


Take Care

by banana_pancakes



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, But only a little, Childhood, Coming of Age, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Living Together, M/M, POV Alternating, they're teenagers, what did you expect?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-02-02 22:38:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12735714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banana_pancakes/pseuds/banana_pancakes
Summary: Tooru doesn’t like preschool, he doesn’t like it at all. No one wants to play with him and the few kids who showed some interest quickly ran away from him when he declared they were the aliens and he was the hero who had to fight them to save the earth. He has a very vivid imagination for a 4 year old, sue him.Or yet another story about Hajime's and Tooru's lives, with less volleyball and more family moments. Okay, who am i kidding, there's still a lot of volleyball talk.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing fanfiction, please be gentle.

Tooru doesn’t like preschool, he doesn’t like it at all. No one wants to play with him and the few kids who showed some interest quickly ran away from him when he declared they were the aliens and he was the hero who had to fight them to save the earth. He has a very vivid imagination for a 4 year old, sue him. His mom always loved the stories he made up for her, so it wasn’t a bad thing, was it? _They’re all so boring,_ he thought to himself as he watched the other kids play house or colouring. There was only another kid with spiky dark hair and tan skin who played alone with some toy cars and a miniature T-rex. _What a weirdo_.

It was his first day of preschool and he was downright miserable. He already came up with excuses in his mind he could tell his mom like what he didn’t have to attend preschool anymore. If every day would be like this then his future looked pretty grim.

By the time recess came, Tooru had given up on making friends with the other kids and decided to take refuge in the sandbox since none of the kids seemed interested in it. In his brooding mood, he didn’t realise the weird dino kid had already taken possession of the sandbox, so when he came back to reality and acknowledged the other’s presence, he snapped.

“What are you doing here? This is my spot, I wanted to play in the sandbox.”

The other kid was surprisingly unaffected by his outburst and only looked at him in an unimpressed way for a few seconds, then got back to his business.

This only annoyed Tooru further. “Didn’t you hear me, you meany? I said I wanted to play in the sandbox, so go play elsewhere.”

“I was here first, shouldn’t you be the one to go play somewhere else?” was the strange kid’s answer (in hindsight, the kid wasn’t that strange, Tooru was just very annoyed at that moment and couldn’t think straight), and Tooru saw red. He lunged at the kid and they began to wrestle in the sand. It was a messy fight which contained a lot of sand thrown in the other’s face, some hair pulling and soft punches that didn’t do much damage given their young age. During the fight, Tooru came to the realisation that it was his first time having fun today. He wasn’t a violent child but fighting with this unknown kid was kind of liberating and all his pent up frustration vanished.

Before their teacher could arrive at the scene of the fight to stop them, Tooru began laughing and hereby stopped their wrestling. The other kid stared at him like a second head was growing out of his body, but Tooru didn’t care.

He had finally found someone who could stand up to his stubbornness and childish ways. He was so happy he just couldn’t stop laughing.

At that moment he decided that this kid and him would become the bestest friends ever.

“Are you ok? Did I punch your head to hard?” The kid with the spiky hair seemed more and more concerned the longer Tooru laughed, and hovered his hands above Tooru’s body, not knowing what to do to stop Tooru’s laughing fit.

“I’m Oikawa Tooru and don’t worry, you didn’t hurt me,” Tooru introduced himself as he calmed down. “Let’s rule over the sandbox together,” he exclaimed as he flashed the other kid his best smile.

The spiky haired kid seemed to consider his proposition and after some pondering he agreed.  “Alright, seems good enough. I’m Iwaizumi Hajime, by the way.”

Tooru’s smile only got wider and without further ado, they began playing. After all, they had to protect their castle from the evil aliens and the monster queen (see, the other kids and their teacher).

♠

As it was time to pick up her son from preschool, Iwaizumi Megumi was a bit anxious. Because you see, her son Hajime was very head strong for a kid his age and other children seemed to be afraid of him. This could be seen every time they went to the park and the other children avoided her baby boy. When she entered the classroom, she was prepared to see Hajime sitting alone in some corner. (And it would break her heart, because her boy didn’t deserve this. Sure, he was strong willed and stubborn, but he was also kind and well mannered.)

So imagine her surprise when she spotted Hajime playing with another boy with big brown eyes and fluffy chestnut hair. Her chest constricted a bit at the view, because her Hajime finally made a friend and he looked so happy, if the big smile plastered on his face was any indication.

“Excuse me? Could I pass?” an amused voice rang behind her and only then Megumi realised she was rooted at the doorstep and was blocking the way.

“I-I’m sorry, of course you can,” she stammered and got out of the way, feeling an embarrassed flush grow on her cheeks. The woman smiled gently at her, and familiar big brown eyes filled with mirth looked back at her. _Huh, she must be Hajime’s playmate’s mom._

As the older woman turned her gaze to the room and probably spotted her son, her face shifted into a look of surprise.

“Won’t you look at that, seems like my son finally made a friend.”

This piqued Megumi’s interest. Seems like the boy with the fluffy hair didn’t make friends easily too.

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. My son also has difficulties making friends, so I was a bit surprised when I saw him playing with someone. That’s why I was blocking the way, by the way. I was kind of overwhelmed by the view,” Megumi chuckled a bit and was pleased to see the other woman grin back. “Also, if I’m not mistaken, I think your son is actually playing with my son. He’s the one with the fluffy brown hair, right?”

“Yes, that’s my Tooru. On my way here I was a bit apprehensive, because Tooru seems to scare other children off with his vivid imagination and stubbornness. I’m glad he finally found someone who doesn’t seem to mind his idiosyncrasies,” the woman smiled gently as she redirected her gaze towards the two boys playing.

“And I’m glad Hajime found someone who could stand up to his headstrong ways. Sometimes my husband and I would wonder if we did something wrong along the way for Hajime to have such difficulties to make friends. Don’t take me wrong, Hajime is our pride and joy, and he’s a sweet and kind kid. But it hurts to see your baby boy play alone while other kids play together around him,” Megumi voiced out loud. Great, now she was revealing her doubts to a total stranger. But it was also kind of liberating to be able to talk about this to another mother. Moms should hold together, right?

“Is Hajime your first child?” the other asked.

“Yes, he is. And I take it that Tooru isn’t your first.”

The woman let out a light laugh. “What makes you think that? Are you implying that Tooru isn’t my first child because I look old?” she asked with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

That took Megumi by surprise. “Wh-what?! Of course not, you don’t look that old. I was just thinking that Tooru wasn’t your first child because you have that confidence radiating from you that only comes from mothers with multiple children,” she explained bashfully.

The older woman just laughed and shook her head. “Well your right, Tooru is my second child. I also have an older daughter. But it doesn’t exempt me from having my own doubts about Tooru’s development. Every child is different after all,” she stated in a softer voice. “Oh, I’m Oikawa Yukie, by the way. But you can call me Yukie.”

“It’s nice to meet you Yukie-san. I’m Iwaizumi Megumi and of course you can just call me Megumi,” she replied and gave a little bow.

Somehow Yukie found her actions amusing because she chuckled lightly. “No need to be so formal with me Megumi, I’m not that old yet,” and she winked at her.

Ah, there was the mischievous side again. Megumi began to really like this woman. She couldn’t wait to accompany Hajime on playdates at the Oikawa’s household.

“Good afternoon. I presume you’re here to pick up your children,” a gentle voice interrupted their conversation. “You’re Hajime-kun and Tooru-kun’s mothers, right?” The teacher, a young dynamic woman named Sato, stood before them.

“Yes, that’s right,” Yukie replied. “How were they, didn’t they cause too much trouble?”

Sato-san gave them a strange look. “Well, at first I was a bit concerned about them, they didn’t seem to get along with the other children and during recess they even began fighting with each other.”

“Oh my,” both women gasped and looked worriedly at each other.

The teacher however was fast to placate them. “Don’t worry, the fight didn’t even last one minute and neither of them got injured. However, there’s still a bit of sand on their clothes and in their hair. I wasn’t able to get it all off. And it seems that after their little wrestling match they’re inseparable.”

“Well, it looks like Hajime found his match,” Megumi exhaled loudly, relief washing over her that everything turned out better than expected.

“And it looks like Tooru also found his. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other a lot from now on, Megumi,” Yukie winked at her.

After that, both boys finally became aware of their moms presence and ran excitedly towards them. They said goodbye to their teacher and went home together after realising that both families lived in the same street.

Once at home, after a long bath to get rid of all the sand ( _how in the world did it get all over him?_ ), Megumi and Hajime sat in the kitchen slurping on their hot chocolates (even if it was spring, it was still cold outside). She couldn’t stop staring at her big boy, how he seemed livelier, how his lips were more upturned, how his eyes sparkled a bit more than usual. She couldn’t stop her growing curiosity and asked him how his first day of preschool went.

“At first I really hated it,” Hajime scrunched up his nose, like when he’s forced to eat all his broccoli. “No one wanted to play Godzilla with me and then I got in a fight with Tooru.”

“Yeah, I heard. You know my opinion about fighting, right Hajime?”

“But mom, Tooru started the fight, not me! I had to defend myself.” Hajime exclaimed.

“It’s alright honey, I’m just glad neither of you got hurt. So, what happened next?” She passed a hand through his spiky hair to show him that she wasn’t mad at him.

“I don’t know why, but in the middle of our fight, Tooru began laughing really loudly. At first, I thought I had punched him too hard in the head.” At that, Megumi had to stifle her laugh. Hajime luckily didn’t pay attention to it and continued telling his story. “But then he suggested to rule together over the sandbox and I agreed.”

 _Ah, the sandbox,_ Megumi thought, _that explains the sand in his clothes and his hair._

“And now we’re best friends.” Hajime finished his report with a big toothy smile and Megumi couldn’t be more delighted about the information.

♠

After this eventful first day of preschool, both boys were attached at the hip. When they weren’t at preschool, play dates had to be organised to avoid their constant whining of how they wanted to play with the other (especially on Tooru’s side, Hajime wasn’t much of a whiner). Of course, both mothers allowed it because that meant they could see each other and gossip about the neighbours - Megumi was rather new in the neighbourhood, since her family moved here shortly after New Year, and she had to be updated - and tell each other life stories. And what made the boys happy, made them happy too. In no time, Oikawa Yukie and Iwaizumi Megumi also became best friends and considered the other woman’s son as their own.

With primary school, in addition to play dates also came sleepovers. Those were the boys’ favourite since they were deemed old enough to watch alien and Godzilla movies with Michi, Tooru’s older sister, when she came back for breaks from university. After dinner, they’d retreat in Michi’s bedroom (she was the proud owner of a TV after all) and build a giant pillow fort in which the three of them could fit in. Then they would snuggle together in it and watch movies until their eyelids would be too heavy and sleep would overcome them. Yukie has a whole collection of pictures with the three of them tangled in a pile of limbs, drool coming out of their mouths, as they’re sleeping curled up together.

Sleepovers at the Iwaizumi household were just as thrilling. Daisuke, Hajime’s dad, was a volleyball player in his youth, and still followed the Japanese Volley league. When a game was up on Friday or Saturday's evenings, he allowed the boys to watch it with him and explained to them the different positions and rules. After some time, Megumi hadn’t just one volleyball dork sitting in the living room but three. (She didn’t mind though, it was kind of endearing watching the three of them cheer for their favourite team).

However, Hajime and Tooru’s newfound love for volleyball didn’t come without some fights.

“But Hajime-chan, can’t your caveman brain see that the setter position is obviously the better position?”

Another quarrel had come up during a web spot while they were watching some game on TV. Daisuke was used to it by now and usually found it sort of cute that two seven year olds would defend their respective favourite position to that extent. But when you hear the same argument three Saturday evenings in a row, one can get a bit irritated.

“Are you stupid?! The setter position is so boring. Wing spikers get to score all the time, so it’s obviously the better position.”

“Boys, boys, stop fighting. And Hajime, watch your language.” When the boys finally calmed down beside him on the couch and looked at least a bit apologetic, Daisuke decided to give them a little life lesson. “There is no better position in volleyball, all positions are important. Even pinch servers are essential to winning a game.”

Both boys were already prepared to argue with him, so he changed tactics. Stubborn boys and their one tracked minds.

“Okay, how about this. Hajime, you want to be a wing spiker, right? But without a setter who sets the ball for you, you can’t score any points. And you Tooru, as a setter, you can’t score many points by yourself so you need a wing spiker to make those points for you. Your positions are co-dependent, a setter needs a wing spiker to make the points and a wing spiker needs a setter to be able to score those points in the first place.”

That seemed to get them thinking, by the way their faces were all scrunched up in concentration. After a minute, their faces cleared up in understanding and they looked at each other with newfound determination in their eyes.

“Tooru, be my setter.”

Daisuke sputtered at that because, _wow, Hajime, how forward can you be?!_

“Of course, Hajime-chan. And you’ll be my ace!”

 _Ace?!  How did Hajime upgrade from stupid wing spiker to ace so fast?!_ Daisuke stared at them in shock, because those kids had so much faith in each other and in their abilities even though they never touched a volley ball in their life. Daisuke’s shock was quickly replaced by a fond smile, because only kids were able to make such grand declarations without second guessing themselves. _They’ll make a great team together,_ was the last thought he had before the game on TV resumed.

It was only logical that when the boys’ eighth birthday came around, each of them got a net and a volleyball so they could start practicing the sport in their backyards. Daisuke taught them the basics, and in a few weeks they were able to serve, receive, toss and spike. If the weather allowed it, they were outside in one of their backyards practicing their technique (since it was summer, it was almost every day). On weekends, both families would often play together in an amicable game, starring the Oikawa’s against the Iwaizumi’s. When Michi came back from university for summer break, she and her boyfriend would split up to even out the teams.

All in all, that specific summer break could be summarised with one word: volleyball.

And so started Hajime’s and Tooru’s conquest of the volleyball court.

♠

They’re quiet on their way home from school, which is a strange occurrence. Because Tooru is never quiet, and even though Hajime is not as talkative as Tooru, he’s still a lively kid.

But Hajime’s been subdued since this morning and he knows he’s not acting like his usual self and Tooru can probably sense that something’s up if his quietness is anything to go by, but Hajime’s… worried.

When they arrive at Tooru’s home, they mutter a quiet ‘we’re home’ and directly go up to Tooru’s room. They settle around Tooru’s small table in the centre of his room and start on homework so that they have the rest of the afternoon to play.

But Hajime just can’t concentrate on his homework. He keeps spacing out, keeps thinking about his mom not feeling well lately. His parents told him not to worry about it, that it’s nothing serious. His mom asked him yesterday evening to go to Tooru’s place after school today because she had an appointment with some doctor. She told him that he had nothing to worry about and her smile was genuine when she said it, but he couldn’t shake of this feeling of uneasiness.

“Hajime-chan, if you keep scowling like that, you’re face will be all wrinkly by the time you’re twenty,” his best friend snaps him out of his thoughts. To underline his point, Tooru pokes him between his eyebrows and successfully wipes the scowl away.

“No, it won’t,” Hajime mutters and lowers his head, looking blankly at his homework. He hears Tooru shuffle around the small table and sit beside him.

“Are you worried about Auntie? How she’s not feeling well recently?” Tooru asks in a soft voice.

At that, Hajime looks up at Tooru, because how did he find out? He didn’t tell anyone about this.

Tooru must sense Hajime’s growing suspicion and explains quickly. “I overheard mom talking to Auntie on the phone yesterday. Something about morning sickness and going to the doctors today. But if it’s any relief, mom didn’t sound tense, she even laughed. So it mustn’t be a bad thing what Auntie has.”

When Tooru sees that his words didn’t seem to ease his mind, he wraps his skinny arms around his shoulders and hugs him tightly. “Don’t worry Hajime, I’m sure Auntie is fine. If you want, we can ask mom to make us hot chocolate with marshmallows and watch a movie when we finished our homework. I even let you pick the movie despite it being my turn to choose one, because I’m such a good friend.”

Hajime rolls his eyes but lets the comment slide, because Tooru _is_ a good friend despite his shitty personality. “Can we watch Hercules again?”

Tooru grumbles a bit, since they’ve watched it at least a hundred times already but agrees in the end. “Of course, Hajime-chan. But first, homework!”

Hajime laughs at that because how can a nine year old show so much enthusiasm for doing homework.  Tooru’s warmth and reassuring words have calmed him down a bit and he finds himself able to concentrate on his homework.

An hour later, they find themselves snuggled together on the couch, both of them holding a steaming cup of hot cocoa in their hands.

“Do you wanna enact or just watch the movie?” Tooru asks him while his mom puts the VHS in the recorder.

“Enact, but only if I can be Hercules.”

“Sure thing! And I’m Meg.”

Now that the movie begins and they have secured their respective roles, Hajime quickly finishes his hot chocolate. He’s Hercules after all and has to be on the ready at any given time.

They have no problem playing the different roles, they know every line and song by heart. They jump up and down the couch, run around the living room, pretend that the TV remote is Hajime’s sword and the pillows on the couch are the monsters Hercules has to defeat. Hajime is so engrossed in his portrayal of Hercules that he doesn’t notice the arrival of his mom.

As the final scene rolls around, Hajime gives Tooru a quick kiss on the cheek (not on the mouth like in the movie, because kisses on the mouth are gross) and both start giggling. Hajime’s worries have all but vanished and he only wants to continue portraying Hercules and protect Tooru from Hades and other mythical creatures.

“Watch out Tooru! It looks like the cyclops wasn’t dead after all and now he’s behind you. But don’t worry, I’m here to protect you,” and he jumps between Tooru and the couch where the evil pillows are.

“Hajime-chaaaan, I don’t wanna be Meg anymore.” Tooru grabs his shoulders and shakes him while he continues whining. “Being protected all the time is so boring. I want some action too. I wanna be the one saving you.”

“Ok ok, next time we watch a movie you can be the hero and I’m the girl that needs to be rescued.”

“Deal! Next time we can watch Tarzan, so you’ll be Jane. Or Terk, since you already look and behave like a gorilla.” Tooru cackles evilly.

Hajime scowls in irritation and punches his arm.

“See!? My point exactly, you big gorilla.” Tooru exclaims, but before Hajime can punch his obnoxious friend one more time, Tooru’s mom calls them in the kitchen.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, both boys are surprised to see Megumi sitting with Yukie at the kitchen table and sipping tea.

“Mom!”

“Auntie!”

They cry out in unison and run in to her open arms. Hajime notices that she looks happy. She still has light dark circles under her eyes but otherwise, she looks healthy. He lets out a long relieved sigh he was probably holding on to the entire day.

After the boys let go of Megumi, she leans towards them and stage whispers. “I have a surprise for you boys,” and gives them a piece of paper.

Hajime reaches out for it and holds it in front of his and Tooru’s faces. He looks at it in confusion, because the black and white picture (at least he thinks it’s a picture) doesn’t represent anything. It just has a black background with some white static and some bigger white/grey splotches in it.

Tooru’s the first one to voice his confusion. “Auntie, what is that? Are you taking modern photography classes? I really hope not because, no offense, this looks horrible.”

“What!? Of course not Tooru,” Megumi chuckles lightly. “This boys, is a picture taken during my ultrasound. It’s a picture of the insides of my tummy.”

At that, both boys look at the picture in disgust.

“Don’t look so disgusted.” Megumi laughs at their appalled faces. “Do you want to know what’s on the picture?”

“Well, since it’s a picture of your belly, all this must be food,” Hajime replies intelligently. He doesn’t comprehend why both women start laughing. After all, food goes in the belly after swallowing it. He doesn’t understand what’s so funny about what he said.

“Hajime, stop scowling. You’re right that food goes in to your belly, but that’s not a picture of the food I ingested,” Megumi explains after calming down of her laughing fit. “This is a picture of a tiny human being.”

Hajime and Tooru look at each other in horror, because _holy molly, there’s a tiny human in moms/Auntie’s belly, how is that possible!?_

“Boys, don’t look so panicked. That’s a normal thing to happen when a man and a woman love each other. But now I want you both to listen to me, because here comes the important part.” Both boys recognise Megumi’s serious tone and look back at her.

“Hajime, Tooru, you’re going to be big brothers.”

It takes him a minute to grasp the meaning of these words and when they finally hit him, he’s an excited mess.

“Oh my god, mom, are you serious?! I’m gonna be a big brother? Tooru, did you hear that? I can’t believe it. This is the best day ever!!” Hajime jumps all around the kitchen and is soon accompanied by Tooru who snaps to reality a few seconds later.

“Haji, Haji, we’re gonna be big brothers! We’re gonna be BIG BROTHERS!” Tooru all but screams and they both start hopping in circles, yelling how they’re going to be the best big brothers in the world, what they’re going to do with the baby once it’s born and how they already plan to teach them volleyball. Both mothers smile fondly at their sons’ enthusiasm.

Suddenly Hajime stops bouncing and turns his attention back to his mother. He forgot to ask a very important question. Well, two actually.

“When will the baby be born? And will it be a boy? I really want it to be a boy.”

“The doctor said I’m in my ninth week, so they will be born in approximately seven months. And I don’t know their sex yet and probably won’t know ‘til their birth. Your dad and I want it to be a surprise,” she gently runs a hand through his wild hair. “But say Hajime, is it really that big of a problem if it’s a baby girl?”

“I don’t mind if it’s a girl or a boy Auntie, I’m happy either way.” Tooru pipes up beside him and Megumi smiles gently at him.

“That’s good to know, Tooru.”

Tooru’s comment annoys him a bit because now he passes of as the difficult child who’ll only be happy if he gets a baby brother. But that’s not true. He realises now that it doesn’t matter what sex the baby will be, he will love them either way.

“It won’t be a problem mom. Boy or girl, I’ll love the baby. Hell, you could give birth to one of those stupid aliens Tooru loves so much, I’ll still love them because they’re my sibling.”

Tooru squawks in indignation that aliens are not stupid and his mom chastises him for his foul language but he knows that she’s pleased with his answer. And when his mother’s happy, he’s happy, so he smiles a big, toothy smile at her and she grins back.

The idea of becoming a big brother is still surreal to him, but he’s going to do his best in helping his parents raise the child. He wants to be a good example to his sibling and he’s going to do his damnedest best to make his parents proud.

Tooru’s the one who snaps him out of his thoughts by asking a question that takes everyone by surprise.

“Say auntie, can we talk to the baby? Will it hear us?”

His mom is quick to regain her bearings and answers gently. “I don’t think the baby is already able to hear you.”

Tooru looks disappointed by his mom’s answer but she’s quick to appease him. “But you can still talk to them. There are people who claim that babies get smarter if you let them listen to Mozart at a very precocious developmental stage so I think there’s no harm in talking to them.” To emphasise her words, she beckons him closer.

Hajime rolls his eyes at Tooru’s newfound excitment and mumbles, “Maybe now the baby will get stupid if they hear Tooru’s stupid voice all the time.” Luckily no one hears him because he’s sure he would have gotten an earful from his mother.

“Come on Hajime-chan, let’s introduce ourselves to our baby sibling,” Tooru grabs him by the hand and shoves him in front of his mom’s belly. “Hello baby-chan, I’m your big brother Tooru and I’m gonna be your favourite brother, because your other big brother is a big meany.”

They spend the rest of the afternoon talking to the baby (more like fighting over the title of best big brother) and both mothers decide that their families spent the night at the Oikawa’s and have dinner together to celebrate the happy event. The evening is filled with joyous laughter, happy tears and an overwhelming feeling of happiness. After all, their made up family is getting bigger.

♠

Tooru just can’t believe it. It only has been a few weeks since auntie Megumi has told them they’re going to be big brothers and now his big sister Michi tells them that she’s pregnant too and that he’s going to be an uncle. But how can he be an uncle? He’s only nine. He thought only old people could be uncles and aunties.

He thinks about it all while putting on his shoes and his winter jacket, and runs out of the front door into the street. He has to tell Hajime about this. This is big news! He knows that Hajime’s at home, they had plans anyways to see each other this afternoon. But won’t the Iwaizumi’s still be eating? After all, Michi told them the news during lunch and he all but jumped off his seat and abandoned his food in order to relate this important news to his best friend. Oh well, now it was too late to second-guess his actions, since he’s right in front of the Iwaizumi’s front door.

He’s about to ring the bell when the door opens. Auntie Megumi stands in the door step and she seems to be talking to someone on the phone.

“Yeah, he just arrived. Ok, I’ll send him back as soon as he told Hajime the news. Is it okay if we tag along? I want to congratulate Michi on her pregnancy. Maybe I will replace you now that I have found a fellow pregnant woman. Your last pregnancy is so long ago, you probably don’t know anymore how it felt like and can’t relate to my complaints.”

While auntie’s talking to what he assumes is his mom, she steps to the side in order to let him in and mouths that Hajime is in his room. Women sure talk a lot with each other, she didn’t even interrupt her conversation to greet him. Whatever, he’ll talk to her later. Now he has more important business to do.

“HAAAAJIIIIMEEEEEE, I have big news for you,” he yells as he climbs the stairs two at a time. In his excitement he doesn’t think to knock on Hajime’s door and barges in.

“We’re going to be uncles!” he exclaims eagerly.

Hajime, who was lounging on his bed and reading some book, looks at him like he just lost his mind.

“Can you repeat that?”

“We’re going to be UNCLES, Hajime. Uncles. What’s there not to understand?”

Hajime’s face gets all frowny like it always gets when he doesn’t understand something. “Well firstly, how can I become an uncle? I don’t have any older siblings who are pregnant. And aren’t only old people uncles and aunties?”

“That’s the point Haji-chan, Michi is pregnant!”

It takes Hajime a moment to comprehend the information and when he finally seems to understand, his eyes go wide. “Onee-san is pregnant?”

“Yep. She told us during lunch. And I just had to tell you the news that I didn’t even finish my food. Oh, on second thought, I don’t think that was a very bright idea, mom’s gonna scold me for sure. But that’s not important now, the point is that Michi is pregnant and we’re gonna be uncles!”

He knows he’s rambling and Hajime is surely not listening to him, but he’s so so overjoyed and just can’t stop his excitement. And by the looks of it, Hajime’s pleased too, if his big toothy grin is any indication.

As their grins only widens, they start laughing and they just can’t stop. Not only are they going to be big brothers, but uncles too. At this precise moment, Tooru thinks that life couldn’t get any better.

♠

In the following weeks, Hajime and Tooru start to ask questions like ‘Where do babies come from?’ and ‘How come your belly is not big, since there’s a baby in it?’. Megumi and Yukie, not able to evade their questions anymore, take it upon themselves to have the Talk of the birds and the bees with them. Luckily, both of the boys are pretty smart and mature for their age and quickly grasp the essential points of human reproduction.

The coming months pass rather uneventfully. Late winter turns into spring, spring turns into early summer and everyone is slowly but surely preparing for the babies’ arrival.

When the boys are not at school, doing homework or playing volleyball, they spend their time making plans on what to do with the babies once their born. They also like a lot to hang around Megumi and Michi to talk to the babies and telling them stories. However, their talks often end up in very heated discussions because both boys don’t seem to agree on the course of the story.

“And Godzilla comes to defeat the evil King and free all his subjects that were held captive in the castle’s dungeons.”

“No, no, no, I won’t accept this. Aliens are the ones that save the day, Hajime-chan. Your stupid Godzilla belongs in the prehistory with all the other extinct dinosaurs and your caveman brain!”

“Shut up, Shittykawa! It is my turn to tell a story, so I can talk about whatever I want. And your stupid aliens belong in space, far away from earth.”

This leads to the both of them rolling on the ground and gripping at each other, but after some time, their fight shifts in a tickling match and both laugh like they weren’t fighting not even five minutes ago. When they calm down, they decide on watching E.T. because to be honest, Hajime likes aliens and space as much as Tooru does and Tooru likes Godzilla just as much as Hajime does. However, they won’t ever admit this to the other.

The first time they feel Megumi’s baby kick, Hajime and Tooru are ecstatic. The feeling is so strange, and it looks a bit disgusting how there’s a little bump in the otherwise smooth expanse of Megumi’s tummy where the baby is currently kicking, but they giggle anyway and are happy to know the baby is alive and kicking.

Both boys help decorating the nurseries at Hajime’s and at Michi’s place (Michi is now done with college and lives two streets away from them), which one time ends in a paint fight and a heavy scolding from both Megumi and Yukie. After this incident, Hajime and Tooru aren’t allowed to step in both nurseries until they’re finished.

It’s on an early morning in late September when Hajime’s woken up by his frantic dad. He puts on some clothes and sleepily walks to the front door where a panting Megumi is standing. His still sleep-dazed mind doesn’t register what’s happening (give him some slack, it’s 5 in the morning) and he doesn’t understand why his parents kiss him goodbye and climb in the car without him. He stands confused on their porch with a backpack at his feet as his parents drive off to god knows where.

Then it hits him. _The baby must be coming._ He remembers the drill now, they’ve talked about this a few days ago. When his mother hits labour, he has to go to the Oikawa’s who’re going to take care of him while his parents are at the hospital. With his memories refreshed, he grabs his backpack and sprints to the Oikawa’s household, which is only a few houses down the street. Although it’s 5 in the morning, he can’t stop smiling.

Once he arrives at Tooru’s house, he’s greeted by Isao (Tooru’s dad) who seemed to be waiting for him. Looks like his dad called the Oikawa’s to tell them Hajime was on his way.

“Good morning big guy, ready to be a big brother?” Tooru’s dad asks him with a gentle smile pulling on his lips.

“Yes sir!” Hajime jumps a bit in the air, he just can’t mask his excitement.

“Oh my, you sure look hyper. Tooru is still sleeping, but I guess you’re too excited to fall asleep again for a couple of hours. Just go and wake him up, I think he will forgive you this one time for waking him up this early.”

“Okay, Uncle. See you later during breakfast.” Hajime whispers loudly, in order not to wake the rest of the house’s residents up and walks up the stairs. Since he’s in a good mood, he decides to be kind to Tooru and wake him up gently. He slowly opens his bedroom door and tiptoes to the bed, where he lightly sits down beside Tooru’s sleeping form.

“Tooru, wake up,” he murmurs softly while shaking Tooru’s shoulder gently. “Come on Tooru, wake up.”

Tooru stirs a bit before rolling on his back and letting out a loud yawn. There’s a bit of drool on the corner of his mouth and Hajime scrunches up his nose in disgust. Despite being such a cute child, Tooru is an ugly sleeper.

“What’s happening? Did I overslept?” Tooru mumbles sleepily and looks at Hajime with sleep-hazed eyes.

“Nope, you’re good. It’s five in the morning.”

“Then why did you wake me up?” Tooru wails loudly and rolls on his side, away from Hajime.

Hajime grins widely, “Because the baby’s coming.”

He waits patiently for Tooru to react to the news. He really can’t blame him for taking so long to realise what he just said, he didn’t react any better when his dad woke him up and ushered him out of the house.

It takes Tooru a minute or two, then he slowly turns back to face Hajime. He’s greeted with a face of pure elation that takes his breath away. He’s never seen Tooru this happy, has never seen this smile of pure joy on his face. He decides in this moment that from now on this is his favourite smile and that it’s too early to be on the receiving end of it.

Suddenly, Tooru’s smile is replaced with a look of concern. “Hajime-chan, are you alright? You don’t have a fever, do you? Your face is red like a tomato.”

 _Great_ , he didn’t realise he was blushing. He never blushes in Tooru’s company. _What is happening to me? I never blush, especially not in front of Tooru. It surely happened because it’s too early. Yep, it’s definitely because it’s too early and I didn’t get much sleep._

“I’m fine, dumbass,” he mumbles and with that, all his strange thoughts about Tooru’s smile vanish as they start talking excitedly about what’s to come.

The rest of the day passes in a blur for Hajime. He just can’t wait for school to end because after school, the Oikawa’s planned to go visit his mom in the hospital and see the new family member. He wonders if the new-born is a girl or a boy, if they’re already born (his mom told him once that delivery could last over 10 hours; he had nightmares for a week), if the birth went well and if his mom is okay. By the time the bell rings, he’s a fidgeting mess.

Tooru’s parents come pick them up and immediately head to the hospital. It feels like this is his longest ride ever, not even that one time his family went to Tokyo can compare to this. The walk through the hospital is as excruciatingly slow as the car ride. They walk through countless hallways and all Hajime wants is to finally see his baby sibling. He feels like if he doesn’t see them in the next few minutes he’s going to explode. He breathes loudly, his palms are sweaty and the only thing he hears is the sound of his own fast beating heartbeat.

The feeling of a small hand gripping his own calms him down a bit and as he looks up, he sees that Isao and Yukie stopped in front of a door.

“Are you ready boys?” Yukie asks softly and both boys nod vigorously. Seems like Tooru beside him also can’t speak in his anticipation. Yukie opens the door and lets them pass.

Hajime’s eyes widen as he sees the scene before him. His mom is half sitting, half lying in a hospital bed, tired, gentle smile pulling on her lips. His dad is sitting beside her on the bed and is smiling too. Both are looking down at a bundle of blankets in his mom’s arms. He approaches slowly, still holding Tooru’s hand.

His parents finally notice their presence and look up at them. As they realise who just walked in the room, their smiles get even wider. His mom beckons them closer and she lowers the bundle of blankets in order for them to see what she’s holding. And when he finally sees what’s in the bundle, his eyes go wide in admiration.

“Hajime, Tooru, this is Eiji, your little brother,” his mom says softly.

Hajime is too dumbstruck to talk. There, in front of him, is his little brother who’s sleeping calmly in his mother’s arms. He still has a hard time believing that all of this is real. He has a brother, he’s a big brother!

Behind him, Yukie laughs softly and points out that Eiji is a fitting name.

Megumi looks up at her and says jokingly, “As you can see, we lack originality,” and continues in a softer voice, “But yeah, it is a fitting name for a strong second son.”

The room is quiet as everyone admires the new-born until Tooru pipes up. “He’s so tiny.”

“And ugly.” Hajime blurts out and immediately regrets his words. However, they seem to offend no one, since everyone starts laughing.

But regardless the baby’s resemblance to an ugly potato, his baby brother _is_ tiny and looks so, so frail and weak. And with this realisation, he vows to himself to always protect his brother and be there for him when he’s needed. When he looks at Tooru, who’s still holding his hand, he can tell that he’s thinking the exact same thing.

They're going to be Eiji's protectors. Together.

(And later on also Takeru's.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you can see, this is going to be a three part story. the whole thing is planned out, i only have to write the next two parts. however, i found out that i'm a terribly slow writer, so i don't know when i'll be done with it
> 
> the title is from the song 'Take Care' by Beach House


	2. Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got a bit long but i wanted their teenage years to be all in one chapter, so i put their middle school and high school years together.
> 
> Enjoy!

The sun is shining, a light breeze is making the tree branches sway and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. All in all, it’s a beautiful spring day. They went to the park a few blocks away from their houses to play a bit with Eiji and Takeru. They’ve just started preschool and one would think it would’ve drained out all their energy but it seems like their energy supply is infinite. Hence the visit to the park after school.

The new schoolyear started only a week ago and he truly couldn’t ask for a better start. He’s currently in his third and last year of middle school at Kitagawa Daiichi and has been named captain of his volleyball team. To make things better, his childhood best friend, Hajime, is the vice-captain of the team and his ace. Tooru just can’t believe his luck. However, it is only natural that such an exquisite human being as himself is bestowed with such luck.

 _Why being humble if you can brag,_ are his thoughts as he watches some birds fly around. But to be honest, all his gloating and boasting is there to ward of his growing insecurities. Yep, you heard him right, _insecurities_. Even an outstanding person like him is not exempt of insecurities (there he goes again with the bragging). It’s just that some first year setter arrived at his school and he’s good, to say the least. Very good, genius good. And this pisses Tooru of because how can a little bratty first year be this good! It’s just not fair, and since he ought to only get better, he will dethrone Tooru from his position in no time. At least, that’s what he thinks. Kageyama Tobio is a menace.

A loud shriek drags him out of his pessimistic thoughts and the sight in front of him makes him smile fondly. Hajime is currently running after the two little trouble makers (seems like they’re playing tag) and is approaching them at an alarming speed which has gotten Eiji and Takeru all excited.

There are some butterflies that erupt in his stomach at the sight of his best friend playing with the kids, but he’s already used to it and tries to ignore them (emphasis on tries). It’s been some time now that he’s aware of his growing feelings for Hajime. The revelation hit him one day last year when Hajime got a confession from some girl and he got incredibly jealous of her. Since then, he’s been trying to live in harmony with his growing crush without Hajime noticing (a crush that has now evolved into something much more consequential), which is getting more and more difficult as Hajime is getting more handsome and mature by the day.

Despite the angst that often accompanies feelings, Tooru knows that no matter what, Hajime will always stay by his side, as his boyfriend if he grows the balls to confess to him, or as his best friend if he were to never divulge his love for him or if Hajime were to reject his feelings. That’s been clear to Tooru ever since that damned first confession, which Hajime kindly rejected, and they got even closer than before (which is hard to imagine since they were already very close). This fact reassures him greatly. And on top of that, they’re still young (fourteen years old, going on fifteen) and have still a lot of time to discuss their changing relationship.

To recap his impressions of his first week of school, everything’s fine, considering his big fat crush on his best friend and a genius first year setter in his team, and he should be grateful. Things could be a lot worse, like being pushed face first in the mud by two four year olds. Which is happening to him right now, by the way. Fuck his life.

“Wha-what was that for?!” he sputters as he straightens himself in a sitting position and attempts to get rid of the mud in his mouth ( _that’s so disgusting!_ ).

Both little devils are giggling and Hajime is howling and are those tears in his eyes? He feels so betrayed, the least they could do is help him up, but nooo, they’re laughing at his muddy face (there’s even mud in his hair!) and now Hajime is even taking his phone out of his pocket to take some pictures he presumes.

Okay, scratch his previous monologue about how things are good. Things are horrible!

After he’s done taking some shots, Hajime finally calms down and gives him his hand to help him up. “Sorry ‘bout that, your facial expression was priceless, I had to take some pictures.”

He only grumbles something incomprehensible in return and looks down at his clothes to assess the damage… they’re ruined, of course.

He’s about to whine about the desolate state his clothes are in when Eiji and Takeru approach him with sheepish looks on their faces. “Sorry Tooru-nii, we didn’t mean to push you,” Eiji says.

“Yeah, Haji-nii chased us and he was so fast, so we wanted to take shelter by your side but we couldn’t stop in time and then we crashed into you and you fell,” Takeru recounts excitedly. “Please forgive us, Tooru-nii!”

And how can he be mad at them when they’re showing him the kicked puppy look, eyes all wide and pleading and their lower lip trembling. It’s just too cute.

He breathes out a defeated sigh and says, “It’s ok kiddos. This were old clothes anyway and I’ll just take a long shower once we’re home to get rid of all this mud.

His words seem to reassure them and they find their previous liveliness in no time. He looks at them fondly and suddenly there’s a hand in his hair.

“Besides, it’s kinda your fault. If you didn’t space out this much, you could have braced yourself for the impact.” Hajime grumbles beside him without letting go of is hair. In a lower voice he adds, “Are you ok, though? It’s not like you to space out like that when we’re playing with the boys.” Only after some more tugging and a big lump of mud being thrown to the ground, does Tooru realise that Hajime’s trying to remove the clunks of sludge from his hair. Hajime’s concern and care make him smile a bit.

“Don’t worry Hajime, I was only reflecting on what a great person I am,” he responds with a smirk.

“You’re so full of yourself,” Hajime gives him a slap to the head with the hand that is already in his hair but laughs nonetheless.

That’s what he loves so much about Hajime. He can be as obnoxious and dramatic as he wants, Hajime always knows that it’s only a façade, knows that he doesn’t really mean what he says. They’ve been together for so long, they know each other’s real selves, can read the other like an open book and can tell when the other truly means something or not. He loves that he’s understood, and on the rare occasions he’s not, he knows Hajime will at least try to. He loves that every part of him, even the ugly ones, are accepted.

Hajime nudges him in the side and brings him back to reality. “Jokes aside, is everything alright Tooru?” His brows are furrowed more than usual, which means that he’s starting to get really concerned. His Hajime is such a worrywart.

“It’s nothing, really. I was just thinking about Tobio-chan and how good he is.” He decides to tell Hajime the truth because lying is futile anyway. Besides, he really doesn’t like to lie to Hajime and avoids it as much as he can (except when it comes to his big crush on him, but omitting to say something to him is not really lying, right?)

“Kageyama?” Hajime asks. “I admit, he’s good, but you’ve got nothing to worry about. He’s still young and has yet a lot to learn. His genius doesn’t compare to experience and you’ve got plenty of that. Besides, you’re pretty talented too, so stop overthinking. I don’t think your brain can take it,” he finishes on a lighter note.

Leave it to Hajime to know that he’s not only thinking about volleyball genius Kageyama Tobio, but also worrying about his position as starting setter. Looks like he didn’t mask his concern well enough.

“Stop being so lovey-dovey with each other, it’s gross.”

“Yeah, didn’t you say you were going to play with us?”

Two little angry voices snaps him out of his and Hajime’s bubble and he notices then that Hajime is done tidying his hair and is simply scratching his scalp (just how he likes it).

Hajime doesn’t seem perturbed by Eiji’s and Takeru’s outburst and merrily continues to scratch his scalp. “We’re not gross. And tell us, what do you wanna play?”

 _Oh my god, he didn’t deny that we’re being lovey-dovey!_ Now he’s overthinking for a whole other reason. Does that mean Hajime wants to be lovey-dovey with him? He knows that Hajime loves him, but he’s not sure if he loves him in the same way he loves Hajime, like in a romantic way, not only platonically. He’s not sure he can survive this limbo in which they find themselves much longer. Not only has his little heart to survive this, his hormones are getting wilder by the day and he’s not certain he can hold out any longer on doing something stupid like kissing him. Stupid puberty and stupid feelings. Good thing the spawns of Satan are there to distract him.

“Let’s catch bugs!” Takeru cheers and is soon followed by Eiji.

“Yeah, let’s catch bugs!”

“Oh, but Hajime-nii can’t go with us. He’s scared of them.”

That gets Hajime to stop his ministrations and growls, angry scowl back in place, “I’m not scared of bugs. Why would you think that?”

“Uh-huh, of course you are. When that big spider came into the play room and we asked you to remove it, you screamed like a girl,” Eiji states proudly. It looks like he forgot their agreement to never ever mention the Spider Incident. Well, this little argument is going to be fun.

“Spiders aren’t bugs. They’re gross and have way too many legs. And I didn’t scream like a girl! We already talked about this,” Hajime exclaims in indignation. And is that a blush creeping on his cheeks and ears?

“You totally screamed like a girl. Hajime-nii is scared of spiders. He’s a scaredy cat.” Takeru adds and Hajime’s face only grows a deeper shade of red.

Tooru can’t hold in his amusement anymore and bursts out laughing. It’s such a feat to make Hajime blush that the few times he has the pleasure to see him in this state, he savours every second of it. He’s so adorable, all embarrassed and cheeks a nice rosy shade, complemented by his tan skin. He’s truly a sight to behold like this. Those kids really are precious (as long as they’re not mocking him), making Hajime all flustered and a blushing mess.

“I’m not a scaredy cat,” Hajime yelps.

Hajime’s discomposure only spurs the boys further in their chants of how Hajime’s a scaredy cat, but they soon have to run away because he lunges at them to shut them up. Looks like they’ll be playing tag after all.

When he finally calms down from his laughing fit, he eagerly joins them in their game. _Things are not so bad after all._

♠

Things are bad.

And they’re getting worse and worse as the weeks pass. Tooru’s self-doubts have shifted in obsession, the obsession of getting better at all costs. Their solo training sessions after official practice are getting longer and longer. It’s getting so bad that he has to drag Tooru out of the gym every night if he doesn’t want him to stay there the whole night practicing.

Things are bad and Hajime doesn’t know what to do.

Every other week, Hajime reminds Tooru that he’s good enough, that he has to stop practicing so hard, unless he wants to hurt himself. These speeches calm Tooru down for a few days but soon enough, he’s back over practicing. Tooru seems to be trapped between two threats. Before him, Ushijima Wakatoshi, Shiratorizawa’s unbeatable ace, who they have yet to defeat, and behind him, Kageyama Tobio, young volleyball prodigy, who could replace him.

Hajime is at a loss on what to do to make things better, to bring Tooru out of his funk. Seeing his best friend like that hurts him and sometimes, late at night when there’s nothing to distract him from his dark thoughts, he asks himself what kind of best friend he is. He’s not even able to chase Tooru’s doubts away, to make him smile again, to make him realise that he’s enough and always will be enough (for Hajime that is). As Tooru’s obsession at getting better grows and grows, the more fights they have and Hajime is feeling downright pathetic.

The strain in their friendship is felt by both their families and Hajime has the impression everyone is walking on eggshells around them, as if not to blow up a bomb. And they’re not so wrong, he’s been frustrated for so long that he feels like he could explode at any moment now. And boy, he does break down hard.

It happens on a weeknight, after a gruelling solo training session with Tooru. He’s dropped Tooru off at his house and he’s now walking to his own house. He feels heavy, as if his limbs were replaced by lead. He’s not only tired from the extra practice (despite seeing no use in it, he stays with Tooru because he doesn’t want him to do something stupid in his absence), all this tension between him and Tooru takes his toll on him and he doesn’t know how long he can hold out until he breaks.

As soon as he arrives home, Eiji comes running to him with a huge grin on his face, but upon seeing that Hajime’s alone, his face falls.

“Where’s Tooru-nii?” he asks.

“At his home,” Hajime replies quietly while slipping off of his shoes.

“But it’s Wednesday and Tooru-nii always comes here for dinner on Wednesdays,” Eiji cries out.

Hajime has to fight the angry outburst to slip out in front of Eiji with all his might. He grits his teeth and balls his hands into fists. He can feel his eyes burn and wills himself not to start crying in front of his little brother. _Breathe, just breathe._

“Looks like he forgot,” he mutters while heading for the stairs. He has to be alone and fast. If he breaks down in front of Eiji, he will only cause more worries. He doesn’t want Eiji to see how pitiful his usually strong big brother is.

“I’ve not seen Tooru-nii in so long. Did you tw-“ Eiji starts complaining but Hajime interrupts him quickly.

“Eiji listen, I’m not feeling very well. We can talk later, ok?” He manages to say with a trembling voice and dashes to his room. As soon as the door is closed, quiet sobs break out of him and fat tears roll down his face. His whole body is trembling and his vision is blurry but he somehow manages to reach his bed and burrows himself in his blanket. He’s never cried like this before, he’s never felt this frustrated and helpless before. And the more he thinks about the situation he’s in, the more his body is wracked by heavy sobs.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been crying his eyes out, face pressed in his pillow, until he hears his bedroom door creak open. He doesn’t bother seeing who entered his room. Light footsteps stop in front of his bed and he can feel his mattress dip beside his shaking body. A warm, soft hand starts carding through his hair and a soft humming noise can be heard. It’s his mother, Eiji must have told her that he’s not feeling well. No matter how much he tries, he can’t stay mad at his brother for ratting him out because his mom’s humming, soft touches and soothing presence are calming him down. Fewer sobs rack his body and soon enough the tears stop falling.

His mom doesn’t stop her ministrations even if he’s only sniffling now and they stay quiet for a long moment, until his mom breaks the silence.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asks softly, still stroking his hair.

“Not really,” he replies, his voice raspy from his break down.

“Okay honey.”

They enjoy the silence some more until he has the urge to speak. Somehow, he has the feeling that talking to his mother will make him feel better. It always made him feel better in the past, so why not now?

“I’m worried about Tooru.” He starts, voice still rough from all his crying. “He just won’t stop overworking himself, no matter what I say or do. It’s already a miracle that I manage to drag him out of the gym every evening. I feel so useless, mom. Tooru has somehow convinced himself that he’s not good enough and that he has to get better, lest he gets replaced by that genius first year setter. But if he continues to strain his body like that, he sure is gonna be replaced. And I’m just standing there, watching a train wreck about to unfold in front of me and I have no idea how to stop it.”

The dam has been broken. Now that he’s started, he can’t stop his doubts from tumbling out of his mouth. He rambles on, without pause, grateful for his mom’s open ear. She doesn’t interrupt him even once, waits patiently till he’s done talking.

In a softer tone he adds, “It hurts, mom. Watching the one you love wreck themselves and being unable to make them stop.”

They’re quiet again for some time till her mom hums softly, “Love, huh.”

Shit, he didn’t realise he said the L word. He can feel his cheeks warm up and he looks everywhere but at his mom. He acknowledged his feelings for his annoying best friend a long time ago, but it’s another thing to voice them out loud, in front of his mother no less.

His mom seems to feel his distress and is quick to calm him down. “It’s okay, Hajime. I’ve known for some time now.”

“Oh,” he looks surprised at his mom. “But, is it okay, me liking a guy? Aren’t you… mad, or disgusted?”

That’s another thing he’s been agonizing about. Although he knows there’s nothing wrong in liking boys, there are a lot of people who find it unnatural and disapprove of such preferences. What’s more, he lives in a country where same sex relationships are still kind of taboo. He’s been afraid that his parents won’t accept him after finding out that he’s into boys. That’s why he did his best to hide his feelings and didn’t act up on them, even though he’s 99% sure Tooru loves him too.

“Of course, I’m not mad or disgusted. Did you really think I would be upset?” his mom exclaims, appalled at the idea that her own son would think that she wouldn’t accept him for being gay, or bi, or whatever he is.

He nods his head sheepishly. He feels so stupid for thinking that his parents were homophobic. Looking at his mom’s affronted face, he realises how dumb he is for thinking that. And even if they were homophobic, they would still accept and love him unconditionally. His parents were understanding people, it was a dumb thing to assume they would reject him.

“Stupid Hajime. I don’t care if you’re into boys or girls, or both, or even aliens.” He scrunches his nose up in disgust at the mention of being into aliens and his mom chuckles lightly. “What I’m trying to say is that all I want is for you to be happy. If being with another boy makes you happy, then who am I to judge and ruin your happiness. And honestly, your dad and I would have been surprised if you didn’t fall for Tooru at some point. You two were meant for each other since the day you met.”

A heavy load seems to have lifted itself from his body. Knowing that his parents don’t judge him for liking Tooru is a great relief. One problem less to worry about.

“Thanks mom,” he gives her a little smile but it quickly vanishes. “What should I do about Tooru overworking himself? What can I do for him to finally realise he’s enough?”

His mom thinks about this for a moment, still running her hand through his hair. “Hmm, I’m afraid there’s nothing much you can do, seeing how stubborn Tooru can get. The only advice I can give you is to stay by his side and be there for him, like you’ve been doing since you were kids. And I’m sure he’ll soon snap out of this phase. He’s smart, sooner or later he’ll realise that he can’t keep straining his body like this if he wants to continue playing volleyball. And who knows, maybe when you win your next game he’ll realise that he’s good enough and doesn’t have to overwork himself anymore.”

“I hope you’re right mom,” he mumbles and thinks a bit more about his mom’s words. Their first official game of the season is in two weeks. He really hopes that Tooru will get his lost confidence back after they win.

♠

The game is a disaster. Tooru’s passes are sloppy and his usually deadly jump serve is lacking power and accuracy. It’s after a royally messed up combo attack that Tooru is switched out, Kageyama taking his place. They manage to win in the end, but for Hajime it feels like a loss. He had hoped for a win, but with Tooru as their setter. Tooru witnessing his team winning without him will only aggravate his insecurities. Hajime’s already at a loss on what to do to make Tooru feel better, he can’t allow him to sink deeper in his self-doubts.

Their back at their school’s gym, doing light practice after their coach’s debriefing. Most of the team has already left, but Tooru is relentlessly practicing his serves. Hajime himself is a bit tired of the game and has started to collect the stray balls scattered around the floor. He’s already dreading the moment he has to drag Tooru out of the gym. Tooru won’t leave without a fight and after today’s debacle, the fight will be an ugly one. He lets a heavy sigh out and curses Tooru’s stupid, insecure teenage brain. Slight movement in the corner of his eye snaps him out of his thoughts.

Kageyama has approached Tooru and he’s offering him a volley ball. Looks like he wants Tooru to teach him something. Feeling the murderous aura emanating from Tooru, he gets closer to them, for fear of Tooru latching out on the poor kid. The look Tooru gives Kageyama makes him move faster. _I don’t like this look. He looks like a wild animal ready to kill._ He’s never seen Tooru like this, and he’s honestly slightly afraid of him. He runs at their side and is just in time to stop Tooru slapping their kouhai. After he’s grabbed Tooru’s wrist, it’s like he’s snapped out of some kind of trance and finally realises what he was about to do. Tooru’s eyes widen in horror and he lowers his head in shame. For a minute, heavy silence surrounds them. It’s like the three of them have stopped breathing, their loud, erratic heartbeats the only source of noise in the entire gym.

He ushers Kageyama home and when he’s sure the kid has left the room, he roars at Tooru what a stupid move he was about to do. He sees that Tooru regrets his actions, but he won’t stop spouting about needing to get better, about needing to be the best in order to defeat Shiratorizawa and not to be replaced by Kageyama. There are so much I’s in his exclamation that Hajime’s getting sick. Something in him snaps. It’s been weeks, even months since Tooru’s self-destructive tendencies have started and he’s had enough. In an instant of blank rage, he headbutts Tooru and sends him flying on the ground with a bloody nose. The throb of pain in his forehead calms him down a bit and he’s able to concentrate again. He gives Tooru the lecture of his life, about being a team, about not being alone, but six on the court, about how the better six are the ones who win. And he really hopes, with all his heart, that his words will finally reach Tooru, that he will finally see reason and be his dramatic, obnoxious, confident self again.

When he’s finished with his speech, Tooru looks at him with wide chocolate orbs filled with awe, like Hajime had hung up the moon and the stars in the sky. _Did I headbutt him too hard?_ He’s never been on the receiving end of such a look, and being looked at with such admiration, by Tooru no less, makes him feel all fuzzy inside. Or maybe it’s because it is Tooru who looks at him like that, that he’s feeling that way. Anyway, the longer Tooru looks at him in awe, the more he is concerned about having given him a concussion.

“I suddenly feel invincible.”

There are his dramatics again. However, Tooru says these words with such honesty and conviction that Hajime is forced to believe that Tooru wholly means them.

The fuzzy feeling he felt earlier transforms into a full blown storm of feelings and sensations. Warmth washes over him, powerful like a Tsunami. He feels proud, proud that he makes Tooru feel invincible and that Tooru has so much trust in him it should be illegal. He feels relief, the heavy weight he carried all those weeks finally lifting off of his shoulders. He’s relieved to see the sparkle of determination in Toorus eyes again. And in the middle of this big mess is love and adoration, a quiet but powerful reminder that Hajime will always be there for his lovable dork of best friend, no matter what.

Later that night, they find themselves on Tooru’s bed, staring at the glow in the dark stars stuck on the ceiling. They decided on their way back from the gym that Hajime would spend the night at Tooru’s (not a strange occurrence, even if it’s a week night; he has at least one spare school uniform at Tooru’s and a whole drawer full of his clothes, which is pointless since they swap clothes all the time and don’t know which clothes belong to whom anymore). They have a lot of catching up to do, since for the last few weeks, communication was sparse between them. They update each other on their families’ well being, on the little devils’ shenanigans and other mundane stuff until fatigue settles over them and they quiet down.

“Thanks, by the way. For bringing me back from this black hole. I don’t think I could have escaped on my own. So, really, thank you Hajime. And also for staying by my side even if I was insufferable these past weeks and making sure I didn’t hurt myself,” Tooru breaks their comfortable silence.

“You’re welcome,” he says and turns on his side so he can see Tooru better. “Just promise me something.”

Tooru also rolls on his side and looks questioningly at him. “What is it Haji-chan?”

“Don’t call me that, dumbass, we’re not kids anymore,” he growls without heat, then in a more serious tone he says, “Promise me to never ever be like that again. It hurt seeing you like that and I felt so helpless because I just didn’t know what to do to make you feel better. I was so worried.” His eyes start to burn as he’s reminded what those weeks felt like, how powerless he felt. Despite the tremble in his voice, he continues because Tooru has to hear all of it. “You’re good enough and always will be good enough for me, no matter what. So please, promise me to never get lost in that dark place in this stupid head of yours ever again. I’m not sure I can handle this a second time.”

When he’s done, he has to close his eyes and take some deep breaths. The overwhelming sensation of despair washes over him as he thinks about Tooru drowning in his self-doubts again. He’s getting lost in his memories when he feels a warm hand on his cheek.

“I promise, Hajime. I didn’t realise I caused you so much pain and hearing how hard those weeks were on you makes me feel so awful. I’ll do my best to never get lost in my self-doubts ever again. And if I can’t do it for myself, I’ll do it for your sake because I can’t stand to be the one hurting you.”

“You’re supposed to do it for your sake, not for mine, Crappykawa” he points out but he can’t bring himself to be annoyed at him. He smiles sleepily at Tooru and is given a blinding smile in return. Suddenly, Tooru scoots closer to him and rests his head on his chest and wraps his arms around his waist. He’s a bit dumfounded at first because they never cuddle when they sleep together in the same bed, but he figures both of them need the proximity after all those weeks of tension and angst between them. So he wraps his arms tightly around Tooru and tangles their legs together. When sleep is about to overtake him, he gives Tooru a soft kiss on his head and doesn’t wonder that all of this feels so natural.

♠

Eiji is soooo excited. He’s finally going to watch one of his brother’s volleyball games. Now that he’s five, his parents deemed him old enough to allow him this pleasure. Hajime-nii and Tooru-nii told him it was a really important game, if not the most important game of their volleyball careers. If they win this game, they would go to nationals. He doesn’t really know what that means, but Hajime-nii and Tooru-nii made it sound super-duper important, so it has to be a good thing, right? And if they lose, this will be their last game in middle school.

Right now, he’s sitting in the bleachers that surround the gigantic court with Takeru, his parents, Tooru-nii’s parents and Takeru’s parents. Everyone seems to be very excited, even Uncle Isao, who’s usually a quiet man, is yelling cheers and encouragements at the players. Takeru beside him is so thrilled that he’s vibrating all over the place. Or is it him who’s vibrating like that? Anyway, it doesn’t matter right now because the players are done warming up and the game is about to start.

It’s intense, the ball flies back and forth between the two sides, neither team wanting the ball to touch the floor on their side of the court. The opposing team (Shiratori something, Eiji recalls) is strong, even Eiji can tell, but Kitagawa Daiichi is putting up a good fight. Hajime-nii and Tooru-nii are especially relentless in their attacks and serves. He’s particularly captivated by Tooru-nii’s plays. The way he only has a fraction of a second to touch the ball, but still can send it flying wherever he wants, how graceful he looks when he sets the ball to his players, how powerful his killer jump serves are. Don’t get him wrong, Hajime-nii’s powerful spikes are amazing too, but he simply feels drawn to Tooru-nii’s control of the ball.

After a particular sneaky dump by Tooru-nii, he decides that setters are de coolest and that he wants to be one someday. He has to convince Takeru to play volleyball too and to be his ace. That would be so amazing, the both of them playing together just like their older brothers. Plus, it will be easy for them to learn the sport, since they have Haji-nii and Tooru-nii to teach them. He couldn’t wait for winter to pass and spring to start, so they could go practice in the park.

Three sets later, Kitagawa Daiichi loses the game. However, the loss loses a bit of its bitterness when Tooru-nii gets the ‘Best Setter’ award. On top of that, he hears the grown-ups talk about going to a yakiniku restaurant to celebrate Tooru-nii being the best setter of the prefecture. While the adults keep discussing, Eiji tells Takeru his newfound objectives.

“Hey, Take, I’ve been thinking. I want to play volleyball. I want to be a setter like Tooru-nii. Will you join me?”

“You bet I will! But I don’t wanna be a setter, it looks boring. I wanna be a wing spiker, like Hajime-nii. Did you see his spikes? They were awesome!” Takeru jumps up in the air and tries to reproduce a spike.

“Great! Let’s go tell Haji-nii and Tooru-nii that we wanna play volleyball, so we can start practicing as soon as possible.”

Takeru nods frantically in agreement and both are about to dash to the changing rooms when Auntie Yukie stops them in their tracks. “Where do you think you’re going? You know it’s dangerous for two little boys to wander alone in such a big facility. You might get lost, or worse.”

“But Grandmaaaa,” Takeru starts whining. “We only want to go to the changing rooms where Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii are. We have to tell them that we’re going to play volleyball just like them. We won’t get lost, we’re big boys!”

Takeru nudges him on his side and this is his cue to unleash the kicked puppy look they’re so famous for. Till now, no one could resist it, not even Uncle Isao and Hajime-nii, who were the sternest with them. And this time doesn’t seem to be any different.

Auntie Yukie sighs in defeat and says, “Alright. But only if you know where their changing room is.”

“We know where they are, Hajime-nii and Tooru-nii showed it to us when we arrived here and you were looking for free seats in the bleachers.” Eiji states with all the conviction a five year old can show.

“Okay, we will meet you in the entry hall later. Be careful and don’t start any trouble, understood?”

“Yes ma’am!” they mock salute in unison and run off to the changing rooms.

When they finally arrive at their destination, they’re panting and sweating messes (they got lost at some point; the gym is huge and they underestimated their orientation skills). They have a minute to catch their breaths until the two older boys exit the room. Eiji notes their slumped shoulders and the red rims around their eyes but he doesn’t give their miserable state a second thought. As soon as they’re near enough, both kids jump in their arms and exclaim loudly, “We wanna play volleyball like you two!”

“Please teach us. Can we go to a park and start practicing this afternoon?”

“Pretty please. We have to start early so we can become good like you.”

“Please, please,please!”

“Boys, Boys, calm down, will you? And talk one after another, not at the same time.” Hajime-nii chides, but it doesn’t calm them down much. However, they try not to talk at the same time.

“We want to play volleyball.” Eiji exclaims, throwing his arms in the air, making it more difficult for Tooru-nii to hold him in his arms.

“Is that so? Did you like the game that much that now you want to play volleyball?” Tooru-nii asks cheekily.

“Yes! It was amazing,” Takeru wiggled in excitement in Hajime-nii’s arms. “And Hajime-nii’s spikes were the shit! I wanna be an ace, just like him.”

At Takeru’s exclamation, both older boys frantically check their surroundings and after some time sigh in relief. Eiji doesn’t understand why they look so panicked.

“Where did you learn that expression, Takeru? If your mom hears you say such words, she’ll kill us all.” Tooru-nii angry whispers, like he’s afraid Auntie Michi would pop out of thin air and actually murder them.

Takeru shrugs, not bothered by Tooru-nii’s antics. “I don’t know, at the park, I think? Anyway, will you teach us?” He looks at them with pleading eyes and Eiji joins him in. Kicked puppy look activated.

Both older boys grumble and finally nod in defeat.

Eiji and Takeru are about to cry out in happiness when Hajime-nii cuts them short in their actions. What a killjoy.

“On one condition though. Never ever say nasty words again until your old enough. Tooru wasn’t kidding when he said Michi would kill us all if she happened to hear one of you say bad words.”

Eiji things this condition is fair enough and shoots a glance at Takeru to see if he thinks the same thing. When their gazes lock, they nod simultaneously in agreement. “Deal!”

“So, Takeru, my only nephew betrayed me and wants to be a wing spiker. I suppose you want to be a wing spiker too, just like your big, brutish brother, huh Eiji.” Tooru-nii sighs dramatically, tousling his unruly dark hair.

“Nu-hu,” he shakes his head, chasing Tooru’s hand away from his hair and leans closer to Tooru’s face, so he can whisper in his ear. “I wanna be a setter like you, Tooru-nii. But don’t tell Hajime-nii, I don’t want him to get mad at me.”

Tooru-nii gives him a blinding smile and says in a stage whisper, “Of course not. But I really don’t think he’ll get mad at you. Behind this brutish façade, resides a heart of gold.”

Eiji giggles at that because it’s true that his big brother is a big softy but his scary frown would make one think otherwise.

“Stop talking about me. If you got something to say, say it to my face, you cowards.” Hajime-nii growls beside them.

Tooru-nii smiles cheekily at him before turning his face to look at an annoyed Haji-nii and claims, “We were only talking about your gigantic forehead.”

“What did you just say? I dare you to repeat that, Shittykawa.”

Both older boys engage in fierce banter and Eiji snickers at their ridiculous behaviour ( _are they five, or what?_ ). Takeru joins him soon enough and in no time, his big brothers also erupt in gleeful laughter. Looks like their loss is all but forgotten.

♠

Tooru is in deep shit, really deep shit. And it’s only getting worse! This was a bad idea. Whose idea was it in the first place? Oh, right, it was his idea. He never regretted doing something this much ever before, not even almost hitting Tobio-chan. Which is a feat. What is this bad idea of his, you ask? Why is he in deep shit?

It all started when the two spawns of Satan wouldn’t shut up about playing volleyball and complaining about Hajime and him not practicing enough with them. To placate everyone, their mothers did some research and found that their neighbourhood association offered volleyball courses for little kids. Since Hajime and he didn’t have any practice on Mondays, they agreed on bringing the little troublemakers to their first practice with The Little Tykes. They got into talking with the coach and as he discovered that they were both volleyball players, he offered them to help him coach the kids on Mondays. He agreed of course, thinking it would be fun and roped Hajime into agreeing too.

And it is fun, but seeing Hajime interact with the kiddos and being so good with them makes him feel all sorts of things. And to make things worse, yesterday during one of those practices, Hajime reached the pinnacle of perfection and Tooru doesn’t know how to deal with it.

Right now, he’s grumbling and hitting his forehead on one of the many canteen tables where he sits at. He’s been a grumbling mess the whole day, his mood not improving in the least as the hours pass.

“Do you think something happened to Oikawa-sama? He doesn’t look his sparkling self.”

“You forgot to mention his not present obnoxiousness. He’s still annoying though, grumbling and growling all the time.”

“Oh my, do you think he swapped personalities with a wild animal? The poor thing.”

“You’re right Makki, poor thing. It must be hard being swapped in a lanky, graceless, awkward body.”

“Ohh Matsun, what should we do to save this poor creature from its awful fate?”

“This calls for drastic measures, my dear Hanamaki. I think we have to call the manliest man of all, the only one who can put up with his highness’ idiosyncrasies.”

“The only man who can make men cry in jealousy and babies laugh in glee, Iwaizumi Hajime!”

At the mention of his best friend’s name, Tooru finally snaps his head up? “What’s with Iwa-chan?”

“Matsun, I feel hurt. We’ve been talking with him the whole time, but he only deems to pay attention to our conversation when Iwaizumi is mentioned.” Hanamaki Takahiro, a strawberry blonde boy with sharp eyes, says in mock hurt.

“There, there, Makki. I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” Mattsukawa Issei, a tall boy, with curly black hair and sleepy dark eyes, tries to console his friend.

“Anyway, where is Iwaizumi when he’s needed? Right now, it would be a good time for him to hit Oikawa for his bad manners.” Makki says and Tooru squawks in indignation at the mention of being hit.

“Makki, Matsun, you’re so mean to me. Why am I even friends with you? Don’t you see that I’m suffering, and all you do is making fun of me. Be more supportive, will you.” Tooru complains and hits his forehead on the table again. Quieter he adds, “Iwa-chan is in the library. He forgot to do his math homework yesterday and claims he can’t concentrate if we’re around.”

Why did he become friends with them? They met at the start of highscool, on the first volleyball practice. The four of them, Makki, Matsun, Hajime and himself, were the only first years to enrol in the volleyball club this year and they swiftly formed an easy friendship. Makki and Matsun were fun, always joking around and mocking him (which wasn’t very fun), but they could also be serious and good listeners and show support when the situation called for it.

This was proven when, three weeks into the new school year, Eiji suffered from a nasty virus and was brought to the hospital because his fever wouldn’t go down. Hajime was a mess during that time, worried sick for his little baby brother (Tooru was also worried sick, but masked it better; someone had to support Hajime and his family). After some worried questioning from the two jokesters, Hajime told them what was up and their reaction surprised both of them because they knew each other for only a few weeks. They embraced Hajime in a warm hug and told him that if he needed something, or if his family needed help, Hajime only had to give them a call and they would be there. That talk ended with some tears and thankful smiles.

Since then, the four of them were always seen together at school. Hajime and Tooru had found two friends they knew they could always count on and Tooru hoped this was the start of a beautiful and long friendship. However, right now, he second guesses his decision to be friends with the duo.

“We can be plenty supportive, but not when you’re complaining about stupid stuff. Your so-called troubles are not worth our precious support.” Matsun retorts and starts plucking at his nails to show his total disinterest in Tooru’s turmoil.

“I think we should hear him out. His problems (Makki crooks his fingers at the word) are always such a great source of entertainment, especially when they concern a certain angry hedgehog.” Makki smirks.

Matsun hums in fake consideration and finally agrees. “Your argumentation convinced me Makki, let’s hear him out.

Tooru squawks in indignation for the second time that day. “I’m not telling you my problems for your own entertainment! I’m really hurting right now and all you do is making fun of me.” He continues grumbling his disagreement and crosses his arms over his chest, turning his head on the side, not wanting to see the troublesome duo.

“Stop pouting, you’re not a kid anymore.”

So what, he always pouts when he’s mad or annoyed, everyone knows that. Plus, Hajime thinks it’s cute. So why should he stop pouting?

“Make me,” he replies defiantly and goes back to his sulking.

“Oikawa, come on, stop behaving like a five year old. We will hear you out and try not to make too much fun of you (another angry squawk). And talking about it will make you feel better.” Makki tries to soothe him and it kind of works. Tooru really wants to vent and what better listeners can he ask for than those two (actually, anyone would be a better listener than those two, but he has no one else at hand).

“What did Iwaizumi do this time to turn you into a grumbling, wild animal?” Mattsun prods and it’s the little push he needed to let the frustration of the last day tumble out.

And so he starts retelling the events of yesterday. “You won’t believe what happened yesterday. We were coaching the Little Tykes, like every Monday, and little Taichi scraped his knees pretty badly after a failed attempt at receiving the ball. He freaked out and started crying like there was no tomorrow. I really can’t blame him for that, there was a lot of blood for such inconsequential wounds. And there comes Iwa-chan waltzing in, talking in this deep smooth reassuring voice of his to calm the kid down and treating the boys’ wounds with such gentleness. Taichi calmed down in no time and looked at him with such awe, like Iwa-chan was his knight in shining armour. He didn’t even stir when Iwa-chan put disinfectant on his wounds, what kind of magic is that?”

He’s so invested in his ranting that he doesn’t notice Makki’s and Matsun’s sceptical looks they give each other. When he’s finished venting, Matsun asks, “Aaand, what’s the problem? Because I don’t see any problem with Iwaizumi’s acts.”

“Yeah, if anything, this is kinda cute, Iwaizumi being all motherly.” Makki adds in confusion.

Tooru grumbles in frustration and exclaims. “It was so cute, it was infuriating. It’s like Iwa-chan does it on purpose, showing how awesome he is and how good he is with kids, only to rile me up. If I was a girl, my ovaries would have exploded! I just want to grab him and kiss him all over and push him on my bed and-“

“Alright, we get the picture, you want to jump him. But I still don’t see the problem. You’re practically dating, I don’t think Iwaizumi would be against you jumping him. And if you’re worried that someone will steal your man, you really don’t need to. Even a blind person can see that Iwaizumi only has eyes for you.” Makki says.

Tooru calms down a bit and in a softer tone says, “I know that Hajime is mine, as much as I am his. And that’s the whole problem! We know we’re the one for each other but we’re still not dating! We’re still not official after behaving like a lovey-dovey couple for more than a year!”

Makki and Matsun look at each other, outrage written all over their faces, then redirect their shocked faces on him. Their weird looks directed at him make him feel self-conscious. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

“Our friends are total idiots,” Matsun gasps out.

“They must be the Kings of stupidity,” Makki adds in wonder.

“Why are we friends with them?” Matsun asks.

“Because their stupidity is fun, I guess,” Makki answers.

“Guys, stop, I get it. We’re very stupid. But I still need your advice.” Tooru shouts in annoyance, not in the least amused by their antics. This whole almost-dating-with-Hajime situation has been going on for long enough and he needs some solution. Right. Now. He’s reached his breaking point, he’s so desperate he even asked the meme team for advice.

Matsun looks at him with a deadpan look and says. “You want advice? I’ll give you advice. It’s pretty simple advice, too. Even you should be able to do it.” Tooru doesn’t spare him an angry glare and after a dramatic pause, Matsun continues, “Talk to him.”

Tooru blinks in confusion. He didn’t see that coming, this solution sounds so… easy. “Talk to him?”

“Yep, talk to him. Like communicate, chat, speak with each other, you know?” Makki adds.

“I know what talking means, thank you very much.” Tooru informs them, he’s not that stupid. “I’m just a bit surprised. What you propose actually makes sense. Why didn’t I think of it?” he mumbles to himself. Honestly, this was so simple. Why didn’t he, the great Oikawa Tooru, think of this brilliant idea? Probably because he was too busy lamenting about the situation instead of actually searching for a solution. A pretty obvious solution, really.

Meanwhile, Makki and Matsun facepalm themselves and wonder what they’ve done in a previous life to be friends with such idiots.

♠

They’re sitting in Tooru’s living room, cuddled up together on the comfy couch even though it’s getting too hot to be pressed together like that. Tooru’s head rests on his chest, right above his heart and his unruly brown locks tickle his neck, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Tooru’s weight on his body is comforting and he finds himself dowsing off, his hand motions getting sluggish in Tooru’s hair.

It’s a Friday night, which means they had their usual movie night. The movie (Kung Fu Panda, the kids’ current favourite movie) ended fifteen minutes ago and they’ve already tucked Eiji and Takeru in their beds. Auntie Yukie and Uncle Isao are out on a date, so Tooru and he have the house all for themselves now.

He is about to fall into a light slumber when he feels Tooru’s leg fidget against his. “To, stop fidgeting,” he mumbles sleepily, but Tooru’s leg won’t stop moving.

“To, seriously, stop! I’m about to fall asleep.” He attempts a second time to make Tooru stop fidgeting but to no avail.

After some more minutes of this relentless squirming, Tooru finally stops and straightens himself in a sitting position. Hajime curiously opens one eye to see what got into his friend. Tooru’s gnawing nervously at his bottom lip but his eyes have that determined glimmer in them and he’s directing them straight at him. He opens his eyes, now fully awake, and milk chocolate eyes meet dark chocolate ones.

“We need to talk, Hajime,” Tooru announces quite ominously.

Hajime gulps. Did he do something? Did he accidently hurt him or his feelings? He doesn’t remind breaking something precious to Tooru, for Tooru to be angry at him. Maybe he wants to talk about their ever growing proximity and that he’s not comfortable with it, that he wants his space. But Hajime’s sure that’s not it if Tooru’s fleeting touches and cuddling are anything to go by. Or maybe he doesn’t want to stop, but has to. Maybe Auntie Yukie and Uncle Isao aren’t comfortable with their son liking another boy and asked Tooru to distance himself from him. Hajime shakes his head vigorously to chase that thought away. Auntie Yukie and Uncle Isao would never be bothered by their son’s sexual preferences, he was sure of it. Then why did they need to talk?

He is so absorbed in his thoughts, running one grim scenario after the other that he completely forgets to answer Tooru.

“Hajime? Did you hear me?” Tooru snaps him out of his thoughts and he tries to quickly recompose himself.

“Yeah, I heard you. And sure, we can talk.” He gulps loudly, nervousness making his chest feel tight and his lungs constrict. Breathing becomes harder after every inhale.

In his own agitation, he doesn’t notice Tooru’s nervousness. He’s started gnawing on his bottom lip again and keeps fiddling with his fingers in his lap. He opens and closes his mouth a couple of times before finally talking.

“I wanted to talk to you about something that is long overdue.” Hajime’s mouth is getting dry like the Sahara. “I keep asking myself why we didn’t talk about this sooner. I mean, it’s obvious that we both feel the same way and we even show it on a daily basis. We’re so stupid to never have discussed it together until now. I even got an earful from Makki and Matsun about how dumb we both are being, for God’s sake!” Tooru starts rambling and Hajime’s getting more nervous by the second. Can’t he just get to the point?! This was torture and he wasn’t sure his heart would survive this suspense much longer. “Anyway, my point is, we’ve been dancing around this issue for long enough now and I’ve had enough.”

Hajime holds his breath in. This is it. This is the turning point of their relationship, for better or for worse.

“Iwaizumi Hajime, will you be my boyfriend?” Tooru asks with determination and confidence and he’s so beautiful like that, not an ounce of uncertainty in his demeanour.  He’s so sure of himself, of his feelings and of Hajime’s feelings and he should be because he’s so right. Of course, Hajime wants to be his boyfriend, of course he feels the same. He’s so relieved that Tooru only wanted to clarify and put a name on their relationship. In his mind, this conversation wasn’t a happy one.

“You stupid dumbass, I thought you wanted to break up with me or something. Never start a happy conversation with ‘we need to talk’ ever again.” Hajime succeeds to let out, and only now realises that he’s tearing up. He quickly wipes the fallen tears away and starts laughing in happiness and relief, cursing his stupid mind for expecting the worse.

“How can I break up with you if we’re not even dating?!” Tooru questions in irritation and helps him wiping off his tears. “Plus, you didn’t answer my question,” he adds with a pout on his face.

Hajime smiles fondly at him and says, “You’re cute when you pout.” This grants him a deadly look from Tooru. If looks could kill… “Of course I will be your boyfriend. Has there ever been a doubt? I mean, in my head we were already dating for a long time. That’s why I started to freak out when you said we needed to talk. I thought you wanted or had to stop being so close to me.” He admits quietly, looking at his hands in his lap.

He jolts when Tooru is suddenly hitting him. “You (hit) stupid (hit) dumb (hit) ugly (hit) gorilla (hit)! I would never want to be anything but close to you. And if someone has a problem with us being together, they can go fuck themselves.” Hajime’s eyes go wide as saucers at that because Tooru never curses. He must really mean it if he goes as far as using the F word. “Please, never question my feelings for you ever again, Hajime. I mean it.” He grabs Hajime’s face and leans his forehead gently on Hajime’s and says softly. “You mean the world to me.”

Hajime’s eyes go wide at the admission and stares at Tooru. His eyes are filled with so much love and adoration that Hajime can’t stand to look at them much longer and lowers his gaze on Tooru’s lips, which is a big mistake. He can’t stop looking at Tooru’s lips (they look so soft, what does he use to make them look so soft?) and has the urge to kiss him but holds back. Then it hits him. He doesn’t have to hold back anymore, they explicitly told each other that they wanted this by officialising their relationship. So he leans in and places his chapped lips against Tooru’s soft ones.

Their first kiss is slow and chaste but oh so meaningful. There are no big explosions or fireworks going off, only a feeling of comfort and belonging. Hajime pours every amount of feelings he has for Tooru, wants to show him how much he means to him, how much love he has for him. He wants to convey to him all the feelings he can’t put into words and prays that Tooru will understand them. _I’m being stupid again, of course Tooru will get them, he always gets them_.

The kiss doesn’t last more than a few seconds and when they separate from each other, Hajime spots a hint of a blush on Tooru’s cheeks. He bets he’s also blushing. Their foreheads don’t disconnect while they process what’s just happened. Slowly, bright grins make their way on their faces and they smile adoringly at each other, eyes sparkling with unshed happy tears.

“I love you too, Tooru.” He says softly and is rewarded with the most beautiful chuckle he ever heard.

“Stop making me fall harder for you, you big meany.” Tooru says sheepishly while his blush is getting bigger and adds, “Can we do that again? Kiss, I mean? Not that our first kiss was bad, it was amazing, but way too sho-hmpf.”

Tired of Tooru’s rambling, Hajime cradles Tooru’s cheeks in his hands and kisses him passionately, glad to notice that Tooru immediately kisses him back. Neither of them are experts in kissing, but Hajime thinks they’re doing a great job at it. Their lips slide smoothly against each other, they’re moving their lips in sync and there’s not too much spit. And even if they did it wrong, Hajime wouldn’t care. Kissing Tooru feels amazing and nothing could ever stop him from feeling so great, except maybe two nosy parents.

“Damn, looks like Megumi won the bet.” Auntie Yukie curses from the doorway and both boys are quick to detangle themselves from the other and scoot on opposite ends of the couch, cheeks a deep red and eyes wide like a deer’s when caught in the headlights.

When they finally escape from Auntie Yukie’s inquisitive clutches (‘Since when are you together?’, ‘Did we just interrupt your first kiss?’, ‘Who’ll be on the receiving end when you’ll do the do? I need to know because I have money riding on this and I already lost a bet.’) and retreat to Tooru’s room, they’re blushing so much, it’s a miracle they didn’t die in shame back there. Leave it to Auntie Yukie to ruin their moment.

They’re lying on the bed in their now usual position (Tooru’s head on his chest, arms wrapped around each other and legs tangled together) when Tooru breaks the silence. “Why did you assume we were already dating, without ever discussing about it together?” He whispers quietly.

He’s drained, both physically and emotionally (Yukie’s teasing didn’t help) and he needs some time to formulate an answer. “Because your feelings were loud and clear to me, even without you voicing them out loud. And I presumed my feelings for you were also clear to you. So I thought we had a silent agreement that we were dating, since our feelings were mutual,” he mumbles sleepily, too tired to feel embarrassed at his sappy declaration.

Tooru, though, grumbles something unintelligible and buries his face in the crook of his neck. Hajime can feel the heat radiating from his cheeks. “Stop being so perfect, it’s annoying,” Tooru mutters against his neck and he shivers at the feeling of Tooru’s lips against his skin.

“Stop lying, you love it.” He manages to reply before letting out a big yawn. “And now, let’s sleep. I’m exhausted, this evening’s emotional rollercoaster drained me.”

“Okay Hajime, I need my beauty sleep anyway.” He pinches Tooru on the side, just under his ribs because he’s so annoying and Hajime just wants to sleep, and is rewarded with a surprised yelp. “Rude. I won’t stand for domestic abuse in this relationship!”

“Yeah, yeah, your obnoxiousness is also some kind of abuse so we’re even. Now go. To. Sleep.”

“Alright, alright. Goodnight Hajime. Love you.”

“’Night. Love you too.”

And he finally falls asleep, Tooru’s quiet breathing and steady heartbeat lulling him into slumber land.

♠

Their relationship doesn’t bring much change in their dynamics. They still banter like five year olds, still fight for the biggest cookie when Megumi or Yukie bake, still take time to play with Eiji and Takeru and they still take care of each other. What changes is the intimacy. What were mere fleeting touches before, are now firm hand holding and possessive arms over shoulders or around the waist. When they are near each other, there’s always a body part that touches the other, be it their thighs or elbows when their sitting side by side or their pinkies when they walk in the school’s hallways.

The biggest change are the kisses. They don’t kiss in public and avoid kissing in front of their families, but when they’re alone in their rooms and they’re done with their homework, they often engage in make out sessions. The first ones are a bit awkward, they still have to learn the other’s preferences, how much tongue to use and how hard they can bite the other’s lips till the pain is too much. However, they pretty quickly get the hang of it and enjoy their heated make out sessions greatly.

They come out to their parents because it’s futile to lie to them. Yukie saw them kissing and immediately phoned Megumi, plus everybody called it that at some point they would date, even the little devils (“You let them in on your betting?!”). However, for the time being, they keep their relationship a secret out of their households. They try to keep the PDA down on the street and at school, and attempt to behave as normal as possible.

Still, their awkward behaviour around each other (they’re trying really hard not to touch each other, even though they were very tactile with each other before) makes Makki and Matsun suspicious and after a few hours they figure out that they’re dating. They’re happy for them, of course, and not judgemental at all. And why should they be, they encouraged Tooru to finally confess to Hajime.

They hold out on keeping their relationship a secret for another two weeks until Tooru gets confessed for the nth time and both of them have had enough of all these confessions. Hajime knows that Tooru would never betray him and never act up on these confessions he gets, but he wants the people to know that Tooru is _his_ now. It’s the same for Tooru, he wants the people to know that he belongs to Hajime, as much as Hajime belongs to him. He’s flattered that so many girls like him and want to know him better, but this has to stop.

One afternoon after practice, they talk about not hiding their relationship anymore, even though they risk being ostracised by some folks. But they know that the people who matters the most to them won’t be judgemental assholes and that’s what convinces them to come out. Plus, it shouldn’t be wrong to show your love for someone.

So the next day, they walk into Aoba Josai hand in hand, heads held high, daring anyone to give them shit for dating. This creates a huge uproar and for the coming weeks, their relationship is the talk of the whole school. Luckily, everyone in the volleyball club is open minded and congratulate them for being (finally) together. Most students seem to be okay with them dating. Times are changing after all, even in Japan, and the younger generations are more tolerant about same sex relationships. The few fujoshis in their school even go as far as creating the ‘Iwaoi Fanclub’ and try (emphasis on try) to bribe the volleyball club members to send them suggestive pictures of the couple.

Of course, there are also some homophobic assholes who try to mock and shun them but their insults land on deaf ears. And the few times someone tries to get violent with them, they get a nice ass beating in response. Hajime and Tooru are anything but helpless and often get help from other students who witness the altercation.

After their brilliant performance in the Spring Tournament prelims in their first year and despite their loss to Shiratorizawa in the final, they not only get known as Oikawa Tooru the brilliant setter and Iwaizumi Hajime the soon to be ace, the powerful volleyball duo, but also as Seijoh’s power couple in the entire prefecture.

Their relationship is going as strong as ever during their second year of high school. They encounter very few bumps and are always quick to resolve any arguments. They communicate a lot, which comes easy to them because they’ve done it since they were little. They tell each other what bothers them, what’s on their mind and what needs to change. They also tell each other what they like most about the other, plan future plans together and they always remind the other how much they love them. As they grow and mature, their relationship isn’t plagued by teenage insecurity and jealousy anymore and grows into something stable, into something they know is permanent.

As their relationship evolves, so does their ever growing carnal desire for each other. When they started dating, they agreed on taking it slow, waiting for the right time, when they were more in control of their desire and not two horny teenagers under the influence of too many hormones going on a rampage. When this urgency to jump each other finally subsides, they start exploring each other’s bodies. Their mouths travel south of the other’s, kiss, bite and lick every parcel of skin they get into contact with. Hands roam over every inch of the other’s body, making a mental map they would never forget. They taste each other, unravel each other and worship each other. The first time they sleep together is on Christmas’ Eve of their second high school year. It’s a gift from each other to each other. After that memorable night, their connection seems unbreakable.

However, life’s unfair and nothing’s perfect. In their third and last year of high school comes a big hurdle they have to overcome, together.

♠

He’s panting hard, he’s covered in sweat, his right hand stings and his right knee throbs lightly. He’s been practicing serves since the end of official practice. That was three hours ago. In less than a month, the prelims for the Spring Interhigh start, and he can’t wait for them to begin. Sure, he’s nervous about maybe facing Karasuno again, but it’s not the reason why he’s locked himself in the gym and spikes jump serve after jump serve. It will be his last game in high school, his last game with Hajime, Makki and Matsun before university. Maybe their last game ever together as a team.

That’s been plaguing him since the end of the summer holidays. They’ve spent their last summer vacation of high school going around Japan, taking one entrance exam after the other and sending applications to their top choice universities. And now, the acceptance letters were piling on his desk.

Hajime and he didn’t really talk about their plans for the future yet. They roughly know what the other wants to do after high school and what their top choice universities are, but didn’t have the Talk yet. However, they have to have it sometime soon, Tooru made his choice after all, and he’s sure Hajime made his too.

Speak of the devil, Hajime enters the gym, hands shoved in his pockets and unamused scowl on his face. He’s handsome like this, all sun kissed skin, sharp features and intense gaze. Tooru really wants to kiss him and shove him on the gym floor to do some nasty stuff to him, but he knows it’s not the time for this. Maybe another day.

“I thought you’d tell me when you were getting worried enough to overexert yourself again.” Hajime’s frown gets even deeper as he goes down memory lane. Tooru smiles a small but genuine smile at Hajime’s concern.

“Don’t worry Hajime, I know that I’m enough. How could I ever forget it, your headbutt back then really opened my eyes.” He jokes lightly but it doesn’t seem to amuse his boyfriend.

“Idiot, I know that you’ve overcome this stupid fear of yours a long time ago. But your still worried about something, I can see it.” Hajime grumbles while walking closer to him. When he’s close enough, he takes his hand in his and squeezes it lightly. “Tell me what’s bugging you, please.”

Tooru gnaws on his bottom lip, a nervous habit, and decides to take the plunge. “We need to tall.”

Hajime slumps his head on his sweaty shoulder and grumbles. “I hate it when you start our conversation like this. I hope it’s serious this time.”

He gasps dramatically and puts his hand on his sternum in mock shock. “I’m always serious when I start our conversations like this. Are you implying that you didn’t take our previous heartfelt talks seriously? I’m hurt Hajime, really hurt.”

Hajime bursts out in loud, boisterous laughter at his dramatics and he soon joins him. He loves it when he makes Hajime laugh, it always fills him with a feeling of accomplishment. Plus, he could hear his laughter every second of every day, it’s his absolute favourite sound, after his cute sleepy voice and his low sensual voice during sex. They calm down eventually and Tooru’s grateful that there’s less tension surrounding them than before.

“So, we need to talk, huh?” Hajime asks after he’s sobered up.

“Yep. I think it’s a good time to finally tell each other our plans for the future.” He answers, locking gazes with Hajime.

“Okay,” Hajime nods. “Who goes first?”

“You, please.”

They look at each other with steady gazes, determination written in all their features. They know that even if they go to separate universities, even if they go to different towns, it won’t be the end of them. This is one of the most important decisions they have to take in their whole lives and they have to choose what’s best for them as individuals, not as a couple. They’ve known this from the start and accept it wholly. What’s a bit of distance for some years over a lifetime of misery and regret because their relationship has held them back from doing what they wanted? Nothing!

Hajime takes a long inhale and starts. “I’m going to Todai for medicine. I plan on specialising in paediatrics. However, I’ll stop playing volleyball. I didn’t get scouted and even if I pass their try-outs, I doubt I’ll have time to play”

Tooru’s eyes go wide at the news. “You got into Todai?” He asks in awe and Hajime nods lightly. “Oh my god, that’s amazing Hajime! Todai is the best uni in Japan and you got in?! I’m so so proud of you.” He wraps his boyfriend in a tight embrace and showers his face in kisses. He can’t believe the news. His boyfriend, best friend and love of his life got accepted by one of the most prestigious universities ever. He knew Hajime was a brain when it came to science and related stuff but wow, this was a feat not everyone was capable of. Tooru is so proud of him, he can’t put words to what he’s feeling right now.

He gives Hajime one last kiss on his lips and says in a softer tone. “You’re going to do amazing, I know it. And you’re gonna become the best paediatrician ever. I’ll have a sexy doctor as boyfriend, I’m so lucky.” He grins widely, not able to contain his joy.

By now, Hajime’s blushing furiously, not used to get so much praise from Tooru outside their bedrooms (he has a praise kink, so what?), but despite being flustered he gives Tooru a toothy smile back.

“What about you, what’s your choice?” Hajime asks, smile still on his face.

Tooru fidgets a bit now that it’s his turn to reveal his decision but immediately realises that he’s being dumb. He doesn’t need to be nervous around Hajime, no matter what his decision is, Hajime will support him 100%.

“As you know, I’ve got scouted by a lot of universities to play volleyball for them, which was my plan all along. And after some pondering I chose to go to some uni where the team is good but also where I could study something I like, as a backup plan if things go wrong. So I picked Nittaidai where I’ll be playing for their volleyball team and studying Physical Education to become a volleyball coach if I can’t go pro.” He lets out a long exhale and looks at Hajime, waiting for his reaction.

Hajime smiles fondly at him and kisses him sweetly. With their foreheads pressed together he says, “I’m proud of you Tooru. Not only have you been scouted by a lot of powerful schools but you made your choice with your bad knee in consideration. But for what it’s worth, I know you’ll make it pro. You’re Oikawa Tooru after all and nothing can stop you from achieving your dreams.” He kisses him again, a bit longer this time, and then again and again, then they passionately make out until their lips are swollen and sore.

They may be going to separate universities, but both their schools are in Tokyo. If their campuses are not too far apart, they could room together in a shitty apartment somewhere in between their schools. It would be fantastic. And even if they don’t live together, they’d still live close enough for them to see each other often enough. Tooru can’t wait for this new page of their lives to begin.


	3. Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait, but here it is, the final part of this little fic of mine. enjoy!

They’re finally alone in their tiny new apartment, letting a tired sigh out in unison. Today, they moved to Tokyo in their lousy one bedroom apartment. It’s tiny, there are stains of unidentified substances on the floor and the faucet in the bathroom is leaking. But it’s _theirs_ , his and Hajime’s and he couldn’t be happier. They still have a week before university starts and Tooru plans to pimp their home in that time. Plus, their neighbours seem nice enough and the granny living next to them already offered them some homemade mochi. He definitely could make this his home, with Hajime by his side, everywhere could be home.

Their apartment is situated somewhere in between Todai and Nittaidai, in a calm neighbourhood, but still near enough from activity centres. Tooru has a forty-five minutes commute to his campus and Hajime only a twenty minutes one. When they were apartment chasing and found this apartment, by far the most liveable one they visited, Tooru gladly made that sacrifice. His schedule was not as packed as Hajime’s and if he could relieve him by minimising his commute to school, he will do it in a heartbeat.

Their families helped them move in and when they were eventually done building the last shelf, they went exploring their neighbourhood and decided to have a late lunch at a cosy ramen place (Tooru definitely filed the location in his brain for the future). After lunch, their families had to leave for Sendai and they engaged in painful goodbyes. It was especially hard to leave Takeru and Eiji behind, the two kids only realising Hajime and he won’t be coming back with them when they had to climb into the car. Fat crocodile tears rolled down their faces as Hajime and he had to promise them to come back home as often as their schedule allowed them to. After some more hugs and a few shed tears, they walked back home with red rimmed eyes and runny noses, fingers brushing with every step they took.

Now they are slumped on their comfy couch, feet propped on their coffee table and staring blankly at the white wall in front of them. Tooru still can’t believe that this isn’t a dream and that soon his alarm clock will rip him from this nice fantasy. He lives together with Hajime. From now on, he will wake up beside him every day, he will have to endure his stinky morning breath every morning, but still kiss him lightly because he’s just too adorable when he’s all sleepy and his face is rid from his usual scowl. From now on, he’ll make them coffee and breakfast on weekdays since he’s the morning person between the both of them, and Hajime will make breakfast on weekends because he’ll want to repay Tooru (and because he makes the best blueberries pancakes ever and Tooru craves them like a pregnant woman craves pickles). From now on, they can be that lovey-dovey, super sappy and domestic couple everyone hates, but envies deep down (on second thought, they already are that couple, if Makki’s and Matsun’s complaints are any indication).

Of course he’ll miss his family dearly, but he won’t let that bring him down. He had to leave the nest at some point, it’s the natural course of life after all and he knows he’s ready to finally spread his wings. Plus, he’s not alone, Hajime’s by his side and they will learn together how to be independent, responsible adults. If he needs someone to lean on when life gets too hard and he gets overwhelmed by the events, he knows Hajime will be his pillar like always, and when Hajime’s the one who needs someone to rely on, he’ll be there for him, like always. It’s a good thing that they’re both adventurous and see this new step in their lives as a new challenge to overcome.

“You okay?”

Hajime’s quiet, gruff voice rips him out of his thoughts and he needs some time to process his words. He doesn’t know how long they’ve been sitting like that, immersed in their thoughts, but seeing that the sun is slowly setting, it must have been quite some time.

“Yeah,” he nods then adds. “It’s just… I still can’t believe we’re on our own now and living together like two responsible grown-ups. It all seems surreal to me.”

“Yeah, I feel ya.” Hajime agrees. “I still can’t believe Auntie Yukie let you go to university so far away from her. Good thing I’m here to keep an eye on you or you would die in no time, considering how irresponsible you are.” His boyfriend says in mock bewilderment.

“Rude!” He cries out and smacks Hajime on his thigh. “We both know I’m plenty responsible, mister slob.”

Now it’s Hajime’s turn to be offended. “Who are you calling a slob? Have you seen your room back in Sendai?”

“That’s because I let the boys play in it and they always make such a mess, and you know it!” He retorts, ready to fight tooth and nail with Hajime about this because he’s everything but a slob and everyone who knows him well enough knows that fact. “Just admit that you’re the slob in this relationship, I won’t judge.”

“Yeah right,” Hajime snorts. “Like that one time you promised you wouldn’t judge me but in the end made fun of me for purchasing that super comfy Godzilla onesie.”

“I didn’t make fun of you!” He squawks, he would never make fun of his boyfriend.

“Sure, you laughed so hard you even had tears in your eyes and called me a big overgrown baby.” Hajime pouts that cute little pout he adamantly refuses to admit is a pout.

“Aww, come on babe, that was one time. You know I like it now, I even purchased the same one not long after you bought yours.” He tries to soothe his boyfriend, but Hajime’s still pouting.

“Only after noticing how soft and comfy it was.” Hajime mutters, still sulking.

Tooru rolls his eyes at Hajime’s moping. _Desperate times call for drastic measures_ , Tooru muses and lunges at Hajime, fingers forming claws and starts tickling the bad mood out of Hajime. Of course, Hajime doesn’t go down without a fight and launches his counterattack on Tooru, knowing fully well that Tooru’s as ticklish as him. They keep at it for a few minutes, trying to wiggle their way out from the other’s clutches and howling loudly in laughter. Their tickling fight ends with them finding themselves in a rather suggestive position, Hajime on top of him, lodged between his legs, hips flush against his and their faces only inches apart.

“I win, I’ve got you pinned down.” Hajime smirks cheekily, his voice still breathless from all the laughing.

Tooru throws his head back and barks out a laugh. “Yeah right, that’s not how- _ohh_.” He’s interrupted by Hajime’s mouth on his neck, tracing open mouthed kisses all over it, nibbling at his skin here and there, careful not to leave marks. Hajime then starts rolling his hips in that slow, sensual way that always gets him all worked up. That’s a low blow, attacking his weakest points to shut him up. Damn his boyfriend and his perfect knowledge of his body.

Meanwhile, Hajime’s nibbling at his jaw and is slowly approaching his lips. When he eventually gets there, he bites his lower lip teasingly ( _damn him, getting me more riled up_ ) and then latches on his mouth, immediately thrusting his tongue in and Tooru can only accept him in. They keep kissing deeply and grinding against each other for some time until Hajime detaches himself from his lips and starts raking his teeth on the shell of his ear.

“How about we christen our new apartment on our new couch?” Hajime whispers in his ear in this low and sensual voice he loves so much. He can’t repress a shiver and lets out a soft moan because Hajime’s pushing all the right buttons right now. However, he won’t give in that easily, Hajime has to work a little harder for it.

“Mmmh, but we still have to go grocery shopping – _aah_ (a bite to his earlobe), and unpack all these boxes.” He says in an airy voice, still grinding against Hajime’s groin and sliding his hands under Hajime’s shirt to rake blunt nails along his broad back, no signs of him wanting to stop.

Hajime’s suckling on his earlobe. “We can order take-out and we have all week to empty the boxes.” He reasons in this sultry voice of his and grips Tooru’s hips tighter to grind harder and faster against his. Tooru loses his last bit of self-control and nods frantically.

“Okay, okay.” He half-moans his agreement and cups Hajime’s ass with his hands to push him even closer.

From there they sloppily undress each other between heated kisses and bites, their desire and want getting too strong to take things slow. As they’re finally naked and ready for the next step, Hajime’s hand stops on its way to his butt.

“Where’s the lube?” He asks breathlessly.

Tooru has to blink a few times to chase the haze of lust away and finally processes his boyfriend’s words. His eyes go wide in terror as he looks at Hajime, then turns his head to the side, where the still unpacked boxes lie.

He can feel Hajime turn his head to also look at the unpacked boxes and when realisation hits him, he slumps his head on Tooru’s shoulder and groans in frustration.

“I guess a handjob will have to do for now.” He says sheepishly, Hajime still grumbling on top of him about how stupid they are.

They should have seen this coming and pack the lube in one of their easily accessible backpacks.

♠

The first few months of uni were really tough. Hajime’s medical program started at full force, not letting the students getting used to their new environment and a lot of them gave up in the first month. Even Hajime, not being one to abandon easily, second guessed his academic choice late at night when he still wasn’t finished with some reports.

He’s eternally grateful for Tooru’s presence and quiet support in those first few months. In contrast to him, Tooru’s workload was minimal and practice with his volleyball team wasn’t intense yet, the All Japan Intercollegiate Volleyball Championship being held in December. For the first few months, Tooru did all the chores around their home and Hajime feels so guilty about it, but he simply didn’t have the time to do anything between a gruelling class schedule and endless homework when he finally came home from school.

He’s also eternally grateful to Tooru to have done all this without even complaining once about this unfair arrangement. Their apartment always was in top shape, the laundry was done on time and Tooru cooked every evening for them. He prepared him coffee and tea without him asking for it and late at night, when he was passed out from exhaustion on their tiny kitchen table, school books used as a pillow, Tooru carried him to their bed and enveloped him in comfortable, needed warmth. If Hajime wasn’t already sure that Tooru was the one for him, he was then.

Exams and summer vacation passed in a blur and with the start of new classes, he finally adjusted to this trying rhythm. He managed to make some time on weeknights to at least eat together with Tooru and watch one episode of some show with him, and on weekends, he studied in the mornings (no sleeping in for him) so he had the rest of the day to help Tooru clean the apartment and just spend time with him. As the weeks passed, they fell in an easy routine and despite his gigantic workload and not spending near enough time with Tooru, he was content.

Right now, he’s walking home from his late afternoon class. It’s mid-September and he can feel the air grow colder. _We have to buy and send something for Eiji’s birthday soon,_ he muses as he walks the now familiar streets of his neighbourhood, stopping by their favourite bakery to buy Tooru some milkbread. He still feels guilty about the first few months of university and plans on redeeming himself by making more time for Tooru and spoiling him rotten, no matter if it gets to his head. Tooru deserves it.

When he enters their apartment, he’s greeted with the sight of Tooru lounging on their couch fiddling with his phone, sweatpants riding low on his hips and shirt riding up his stomach a bit, sharp hips on display.

He gulps down his growing arousal and announces his arrival. “I’m home.”

Tooru looks up from his device and smiles brightly. “Welcome home Hajime.”

He straightens himself in a sitting position, making place for him on the couch. As soon as he flops down on it, Tooru throws his legs on his lap and his hands reflexively start massaging Tooru’s calves (volleyball practice picked up in intensity after summer vacation and even though Tooru never asked him explicitly for this favour, Hajime knows he appreciates it).

“I brought you something.” He says, without stopping his ministrations on Tooru’s leg.

Tooru turns away from his phone again and looks at him expectantly. “Is it milkbread?” He asks.

“Yep, from your favourite bakery.” Hajime looks up from Tooru’s legs to see his reaction and isn’t disappointed at all.

Tooru lights up like a Christmas tree and coos softly. “I’ve got the best boyfriend ever, I’m so lucky. Thank you Hajime.” And leans in to nuzzle his cheek lovingly. When he’s done showing his affection, Tooru leans back against the armrest and asks. “How was your day? Did you finally get your mark on that essay you worked really hard for or is this stupid professor of yours still procrastinating?”

Hajime chuckles lightly at Tooru’s annoyance (Tooru seems more annoyed by his prof’s laziness than he is and he finds it kind of endearing). “Nope, still didn’t get it back. I think Yamato sensei left his brain back in Okinawa where he went for the summer holidays.” Tooru snorts at his comment. “And my day went by like always. Tiring classes and I’ve got a shit ton of homework to do.” He sighs tiredly at the prospect.

Tooru hums and asks quietly. “Is our date tomorrow still up? If you have too much work to do, we don’t have to go. We can reschedule and go on it on a weekend where you have less homework to do. You can tell me, you know, I won’t get mad. Academics come first.” Tooru smiles reassuringly at him but Hajime can still sense the sadness that Tooru tries to hide so desperately at the prospect of cancelling they’re date.

He knows Tooru won’t get mad if they reschedule, but he’ll still be hurt and do his damnedest best to hide it from him. A pang of affection goes off in his chest for his ever understanding partner.

He squeezes Tooru’s legs reassuringly and says. “Don’t worry, we’ll go on our date tomorrow. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll just have to work extra hard tonight and tomorrow and Sunday morning.” To seal their agreement, Hajime kisses Tooru sweetly on his lips.

“Okay.” Tooru smiles lovingly. “And you’ll come pick me up from practice, right? So you’ll finally meet my team.”

After the summer holidays, Tooru’s practices got longer and an additional three hours of practice were added on Saturday mornings. The Intercollegiate Championships were approaching and the tension was palpable.

“Yeah, I’ll come pick you up. I can’t wait to see the people who have the misfortune to be subjected to your shitty self every day of the week.” He says playfully and is swiftly punched on the shoulder.

“You’re so mean to me. I take back what I said before, you’re the worst boyfriend ever.” Tooru wails but soon there’s a smirk finding its way on his face and his eyes sparkle dangerously. “Anyway, I can’t wait for you to meet my teammates too.”

Hajime doesn’t like that look. It’s the look Tooru has when he’s plotting something or when something big is about to happen and he’s the only one who knows, the rest of the world oblivious to the big surprise they’re about to get.

Hajime looks suspiciously at his boyfriend and asks. “Why are you looking like that? What are you plotting?”

“Ohh, nothing, nothing.”Tooru smiles innocently at him and now he knows for sure that something’s up.

“Tooru.” He growls threateningly. “What are you scheming? You did tell your team we’re together, right? It won’t be a surprise when I walk into that gym tomorrow, right?”

He remembers having a discussion with Tooru at the start of university, about Tooru telling his team that he’s in a gay relationship or not. It was risky, Tooru admitting being in a relationship with another man, and he could risk being banned from the team if the coach was a homophobic prick. But Tooru was relentless in his determination. “If they won’t let me achieve my dream with you by my side, then my dream is worth nothing.” It were those words that made him relent, and they agreed on Tooru coming out to his team, no matter what consequences it would bring.

“Of course they know we’re together. Can’t you remember how I told you Coach was very understanding and accepting and really doesn’t care about his players’ sexual preferences as long as they play well?”

Hajime grumbles, remembering how relieved he felt that evening Tooru told him the news. However, Tooru is still hiding something, but he really doesn’t have the time to prod further. He sighs tiredly and gets up from the couch, jostling an unprepared Tooru on his side.

“I know something’s up, but I guess I’ll find sooner or later what it is you’re hiding from me. Right now, I have to start on my homework or I’ll never be done by the end of the weekend.” He announces, walking to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. He’ll need it, the night will be a long one.

When he returns in their living room to grab his school bag, Tooru’s still smirking wolfishly at him and says in this predatory low purr of his. “Oh don’t worry Hajime, you’ll find out soon enough.” Then he redirects his attention back to his phone, going through his different social media accounts, Hajime supposes, like nothing happened.

The next day, Hajime’s in a hurry to leave the apartment. He was so absorbed in his work, he didn’t pay attention to the time and now he’s running late. He throws on some clothes, hoping they look good enough, seeing they were going on a date later, grabs his wallet and keys, puts on his nice pair of shoes and dashes out of the flat.

_I hope I’ll make it in time for the end of practice._ It’s the first time he’ll see Tooru’s teammates and coach, and according to Tooru, they all can’t wait to see the famous Iwa-chan. He really wants to make a good impression, but being late isn’t his definition of a good one. He runs a bit faster and is lucky to catch a train quite quickly.

When he finally reaches the gym’s entrance, Hajime’s panting and sweating ( _good job Iwaizumi, you know you still have to go on a date, right?_ ). He takes some time to catch his breath and to redress his clothes. When he’s ready, he takes a deep breath and opens the doors, bracing himself for what’s to come.

The players are near the benches, surrounding an older man ( _that must be the coach_ ). They must be in the middle of a briefing, he thinks.

Startled by the noise, everyone is now looking at him and Hajime can feel his heartbeat pick up. He feels self-conscious and kind of intimidated. All the players are taller than him and even though he’s not small himself and tries to keep himself fit, he feels kind of uneasy, being surrounded by so many tall people. His eyes rake through the group, then lock eyes with familiar wide chocolate orbs.

Tooru’s eyes brighten when he realises who entered the gym and his predatory smirk from yesterday is back on his face.

“Iwa-chan, you’re here.”

♠

There’s a long silence that stretches out after he’s announced Hajime’s arrival in the gym. All his teammates are looking in shock at Hajime, then look back at him, then back at his boyfriend.

He told his teammates he was in a relationship, all right, but he kind of omitted to tell them his partner was a guy. And he really thought he didn’t have to, seeing how much he gushed about Hajime’s arms and how ripped he is.  It’s not his fault his team assumed he had a very athletic girlfriend. Of course, Coach knew that his partner is a man, he had to tell him the whole truth in order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings that could get problematic in the future.

His teammates are still staring at the both of them, not understanding what’s going on. He really enjoys seeing them so dumbstruck. Serves them right, assuming his Hajime was a sweet girl.

When he redirects his gaze on his boyfriend he flinches a bit at Hajime’s deep angry scowl. He looks downright furious. He knows it isn’t long till Hajime will burst. After all, he believed his teammates knew he was a guy, and their shocked silence proves the exact contrary.

“Shittykawa, what’s the meaning of this?” Hajime growls threateningly, moving slowly towards him, like a feline approaching his pray.

“Oh my god!”

“Iwa-chan is a man?!”

“Did he just call Oikawa ‘Shittykawa’?”

“I didn’t see that coming.”

His teammates choose the right moment to finally snap out of their stupor and cry out in surprise because Hajime was ready to lunge at him and give him the ass beating of his life, he could see it in his eyes. The onslaught of surprised cries stop Hajime in his motion and he looks in horror at the display. His suspicions are confirmed, Tooru’s teammates really didn’t know about him being a guy and assumed he was a girl.

Tooru can’t hold back anymore. Even if his life is in imminent danger (he can feel Hajime’s murderous aura stil seeping out of every pore of his body), he bursts out in laughter, the scene unfolding before his eyes being too funny. He’s never seen his teammates this shocked and Hajime’s look of utter disgust at the thought of being taken for a girl is priceless. He can even hear Coach snicker behind him, being visibly amused by his players’ obliviousness.

When he’s only a giggling mess and not howling like a wild animal anymore, Tooru approaches Hajime, sensing that his boyfriend’s fury has ebbed down and it’s safe to go near him again. He slings his arm protectively around Hajime’s waist (he knows his teammates now good enough to know that him being gay won’t bother them, but it’s better to be safe than sorry) and waits for his teammates to finally calm down so he can introduce his boyfriend properly to them.

“Guys, this is Iwaizumi Hajime, my boyfriend.” He says proudly, looking pointedly at his teammates, daring them to say something wrong.

Beside him, Hajime stops grumbling about how Tooru’s going to pay for this later and bows slightly. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

His teammates bow too and mutter a ‘nice to meet you too’, still dazed about the news that the Iwa-chan Oikawa won’t stop talking about is actually a guy with the looks of a Greek God.

Then, as if every single one of his teammates had the same idea, they start questioning them at the same time, making it impossible for Hajime and Tooru to understand what they’re saying and to answer their questions.

However, being used to coach little excitable kids, Tooru knows exactly how to calm his teammates down, seeing they’re not acting very differently than his little troublemakers back in Sendai right now. He slips in his stern coach mode and clears his throat threateningly, glad to see his teammates finally pipe down.

“What are you, five year olds? I can’t believe my senpais would act like this, in front of my beloved Iwa-chan. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

His teammates look ashamed at their feet. Even his upperclassmen let Tooru’s dramatics slide, knowing that behind all this obnoxiousness, Tooru genuinely respects them. Plus, they really went too far, staring at Hajime like some exhibit animal and lashing out on them forgetting their manners.

In a cheery voice, he continues. “We’ll gladly answer your questions. It’s the reason why Iwa-chan came here in the first place, so that you get to know each other.” Then he changes his light tone in a serious one, his eyes dark and cold, meaning he means business. “However, you’ll ask one question at a time, and if one of you gets stupid about me being gay, I’ll leave the team and we all know how much damage it will do to the team. I don’t care if you’re homophobic, just don’t be an asshole about it and we’re good.”

By the time he’s done talking, Hajime has slung his arm tightly around his waist for support, patiently waiting for Tooru’s teammates’ reaction. Tooru has made up his mind about this a long time ago. He can’t play in a team that shuns him for something he can’t change, even if it’s only one person. He knows he will encounter homophobes all along his life, and he respects their opinion even if it’s a stupid one. He’s even willing to work together with them, but only if they keep their opinion to themselves. He doesn’t want to hide his relationship, he doesn’t want to hide Hajime from his team, from the world. He wants them to know how proud and so very lucky he is to have Hajime by his side, that without him he wouldn’t be where he is. Playing volleyball is his dream, sure. But if he has to pretend being straight and not being with Hajime to achieve it, then he’ll gladly refuse. There are things more important than dreams.

He’s growing tenser by the second, his teammates are still pondering over his words, looking at one another to assess everyone’s reaction. Hajime can feel his restlessness and tightens his hold on his waist. He knows how much his team’s opinion is important to him and the consequences it would bring if it wasn’t a favourable one. He only hopes his judgment about his team isn’t wrong and that his sexual orientation doesn’t matter to them.

After what feels like an eternity (it mustn’t have been more than ten seconds) someone finally breaks the silence.

“Who tops?” Sato, their libero, asks, making everyone snicker except for him and Hajime, who grumble that of course, his teammates would ask sexual related questions first.

♠

“Hi Honey.”

“Hajime-nii!!!”

“Hey handsome.”

“How are you doing, son?”

Hajime smiles at the pixelated view of his family and replies. “Hi everyone.”

It’s Wednesday evening, time for their weekly skype group call and everyone is present: his parents, Tooru’s parents, Michi and of course the two little devils that get taller every week they hold those video calls. Everyone is there except for one infuriatingly dramatic pretty boy.

“Say Hajime, where’s my son?” Auntie Yukie asks, surprised at the lack of overly cheery greetings.

“Ah, he had some meeting with the team after practice and he’s running a bit late. I’m sure he’ll be home soon though, don’t worry.” Hajime explains.

“I wasn’t worried, just a bit taken aback by the lack of annoying squealing and cooing.” Auntie Yukie answers, trademark Oikawa smirk on her lips.

Hajime shakes his head in amusement and says, also smirking. “That’s not very kind of you, insinuating that you find your son annoying.”

Auntie Yukie laughs at his remark. “Everyone knows you’re my favourite son, Hajime,” and she winks at him.

Everyone laughs heartily, knowing fully well that it’s a joke, she doesn’t have a favourite. After some time, they all sober up and engage in comfortable conversation. They ask him how his week was, what they did on the weekend and how he’s doing in general. In return, he asks about their week, about their days at work and about Eiji’s and Takeru’s days at school and volleyball practice.

He’s in the middle of venting about his anatomy class (his second year of college goes much smoother than his first, but he found the bane of his life; anatomy classes were invented by the devil himself), when he hears the front door of their apartment open.

He only has the time to inform his family of Tooru’s arrival, when a blubbering Tooru comes barrelling into the kitchen where he’s sitting. Hajime sees the state in which his boyfriend is, face all red and tears streaming down his face, and his heart falls into the pit of his stomach, wondering what could have possibly happened to make Tooru cry like this. He sits up in a hurry, the chair in which he was seated falling on the floor, runs to Tooru’s side and wraps his arms tightly around his crying boyfriend. He starts carding his fingers through Tooru’s windswept chestnut locks, knowing it will calm him down.

“Hey Tooru, what happened? You’re not hurt, are you?” He says in a voice he hopes is soothing, trying hard to keep his growing panic down. Tooru doesn’t cry often. In fact, he can count on a single hand the times he has seen Tooru cry. People often mistakenly assumed Tooru’s a crybaby because of his soft looks when he was a kid, but Hajime knows better. Tooru is all but a delicate, helpless person. That’s why his heart breaks every time he sees Tooru cry, because he knows something must be really wrong for Tooru to break down like this.

“Hajime, Hajime,” Tooru won’t stop whining between hiccups and Hajime’s panic only grows. He desperately wants to know, make sure Tooru isn’t hurt, that his bad knee didn’t snap. His mind spirals out of control, imagining one dreadful scenario after the other. He’s so deep in thoughts that he jolts when Tooru lifts his head from where it was buried in the crook of his neck.

The view he’s met with shocks him. Tooru is still crying, face red and blotchy, snot running from his nose, but there’s a wide smile on his face and Hajime is lost. He stands there gaping at his boyfriend, both hands cradling his cheeks gently, wondering if Tooru lost his mind.

“Hajime,” Tooru breathes, his sobs finally calming down and his smile only gets wider. “I made it, I made it!” He says softly, like it’s a secret, like he’s still not sure if all of this is real.

Hajime racks his brain, thinking hard about what Tooru could mean, all while gently drying Tooru’s face from his tears that are slowly dying down and removing the snot with the back of his hand from his face. _Something big must have happened, or Tooru wouldn’t be all worked up about it,_ Hajime reasons. _Plus it must be something good or Tooru wouldn’t smile so brightly_. He tries to proceed methodically, going through Tooru’s day in his mind, weighing all possibilities. The only thing that comes to his mind is that something must have happened during practice, during the meeting to be more precise.

Then it hits him. He remembers a talk with Tooru from a week ago, when they both laid in bed, ready to fall asleep. He recalls Tooru telling him about this precise meeting, about how a representative of Japan’s National Volleyball Team would come to Nittaidai.

His eyes go incredibly wide at the thought. “Now way,” he whispers, not believing what he thinks might have happened. His hold on Tooru’s face gets tighter and his thumbs brush over his cheeks repeatedly, needing something to anchor him.

Tooru nods frantically, wide grin still in place. “Yes, yes, I made it. They invited me to their practices.”

Hajime all but lunges at Tooru, embracing him tightly, lifting him off the ground and spinning him around in circles. He’s so overwhelmed with feelings, pride and awe and adoration and love, so much love, bursting through his entire body. His best friend, boyfriend, love of his life was invited to join Japan’s National Volleyball Team’s practices. His dream came true, all his hard work paid off in the end and Hajime couldn’t be happier about it.

“Oh my god, Tooru! That’s amazing, you fucking made it!” He spins them one last time and places Tooru back on solid ground, only to pepper kisses all over his face. “I’m so proud of you, I’m so, so proud of you, love.” He says between kisses, not able to contain his feelings.

Tooru giggles at the feeling of his butterfly kisses, then he grabs him by the neck and moves his head so their lips are finally touching. The kiss is hard but sweet, full of untold feelings they both can’t put into words. However, before Hajime can lose himself in Tooru’s warmth, they’re startled by someone rasping their throat loudly. Hajime is then reminded of his laptop placed on the kitchen table, skype call still ongoing.

“I hope you didn’t forget about us.”

“Yeah, what’s all this commotion about?”

“Tooru-nii, we want to see you!”

The voices coming from his laptop shatter the bubble they were in and Hajime unwraps his arms from around Tooru and nudges him toward his laptop. “Don’t worry, we’re still here,” he informs them.  He picks up the chair from the ground and sits on it, pulling Tooru on his lap.

“Hi, everyone.” Tooru greets them with a big smile, eyes still a bit red and puffy from his crying.

“Is everything alright sweety? Hajime left us so abruptly, looking distraught and I heard you cry.” Auntie Yukie says, worry written all over her face.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” he replies with a blinding smile. “Actually, I have some very good news to tell you.”

Hajime can feel him shake in excitement on his lap and wraps his arms around his middle to ground him.

Tooru takes one last long breath and breaks the news. “I got invited to join Japan’s National Volleyball Team’s practices.” He informs proudly.

Both their families are quiet, processing the information Tooru just told them. When realisation finally dawns on them, all hell breaks loose in their little skype conversation.

“You’ve got what?” Michi exclaims in total disbelief.

“What does it mean?” Eiji and Takeru ask, not understanding why everyone’s so worked up.

“Oh my Gods, my baby boy got into the national volleyball team.” Auntie Yukie all but yells, tears threatening to roll down her beautiful face. Uncle Isao stands behind her, griping her shoulder tightly, pride written all over his face.

“Tooru, honey, that’s amazing.” His mom congratulates him and his dad adds how proud and happy they are for him.

The rest of their skype call is filled with joyous laughter and explanations to Takeru and Eiji about Tooru’s accomplishment and then some more happy exclamations. During all this time, Hajime just can’t stop grinning. He’s so overjoyed, not able to contain his emotions, not wanting to contain them, wanting to show everyone how happy he is for his partner.

When they bid their goodbyes to their family and the call is ended, Tooru shifts in his lap in order to straddle him so they’re face to face. The look Tooru gives him takes his breath away, eyes shining bright and lips stretched in a soft smile, like Hajime is the most precious thing in the world.

“Thanks Hajime, without you I would’ve never come this far.” He says softly, gratefulness mingled with every word.

He shakes his head and flicks Tooru’s forehead. “Don’t thank me, stupid. This one is all on you.” He leans forward so their foreheads are touching and continues in a softer voice. “I’m so proud of you, Tooru. I’m so proud of you I can’t put it into words.”

Tooru’s smile gets devious and he says in a low seductive purr. “How about you show me then, hmm?”

Hajime can feel a pang of anticipation going through his body at Tooru’s implication and with hooded eyes and his own seductive voice he answers. “I can do that.”

Then he grabs Tooru at the thighs, stands up from the kitchen chair and makes his way to their bedroom with Tooru in his arms. Celebration dinner can wait.

♠

He is buzzing with excitement, not able to sit still in his seat. He’s so thrilled, even the scenery outside the window can’t distract him from what’s to come. But a loud snore next to him can. EIji’s sitting beside him, dozing off with his mouth wide open. _How can he sleep? Isn’t he excited?_ Well, it is early and if Eiji’s night was like his, he probably didn’t sleep at all from all the excitement. But still, Takeru’s enthusiasm makes it unable for him to feel tired at all, so how can Eiji sleep? Seems like he isn’t as thrilled as him.

They’re sitting in the shinkansen headed for Tokyo. It’s golden week and they were supposed to have training camp with the little Tykes, but Coach broke his leg a few days ago and they couldn’t find a replacement coach in time for the camp. This wouldn’t have been a problem at all, if the grown-ups (Mom, grandma and grandpa, Auntie Megumi and Uncle Daisuke) didn’t decide to go on a trip while they were at training camp. Of course, they couldn’t cancel their trip on such short notice, so they came to the brilliant idea to send them off to Tokyo, to Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii, who couldn’t come back home for the holidays because Tooru-nii had some important practice and Hajime-nii didn’t want to leave him alone. And what a brilliant idea it is!

It isn’t the first time he goes to Tokyo. The first time he went was when they all helped Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii move in their new apartment. It was a one day trip and they were busy lifting boxes and building shelves, so they didn’t see much of the city. The second time was the next year during summer holidays. His family had decided to do a city trip there to see Torru-nii and Hajime-nii, who couldn’t come back to Sendai because of some labs on Hajime-nii’s side and practices with the national team on Tooru-nii’s side.

And now, one year later, he’s on his way to Tokyo again. However, this time is completely different. He’s alone with Eiji on the train, and once in Tokyo, Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii will be the only ones there, no grown-ups to supervise them. They’re going to spend a whole week with their big brothers (Takeru knows Tooru is his uncle but he still thinks of him as his big brother) in the big city and it’s gonna be awesome.

The rest of the train ride passes uneventfully, Eiji’s still snoring beside him and the landscape is slowly changing from mountains and forests to a more urbanised scenery. The nice old lady sitting next to their row sometimes makes sure they are alright (the first thing his mom did when they reached their seats was to ask whoever sat next to them to keep an eye on them; they are only ten after all), otherwise no one else bothers them.

After three hours (it felt more like 100 hours to Takeru) they finally arrive at Tokyo Station. Takeru helps a still sleepy Eiji pick up their luggage and with a spring in his steps, he climbs out of the train, immediately spotting spiky dark hair and perfectly styled chestnut locks (his mom must have told them in what carriage they were sitting). He starts running towards them, dragging a stumbling Eiji behind him and lunges at the older boys, not caring at all which one of them will catch him.

“Hajime-nii, Tooru-nii!”

Strong arms lift him up in the air, spin him around and place him down again. “Hey there big guy. How was the trip?” Hajime-nii asks with a wide grin on his face while ruffling his short hair.

“And how’s my favourite nephew doing?” Tooru-nii pipes up beside them, supporting a still comatose Eiji.

“I’m you’re only nephew, Tooru-nii,” he deadpans, not amused by his uncle’s shenanigans. “And the trip was fine, I guess, but boring. Eiji sleeping all the time didn’t help.” He pouts, still not over EIji’s betrayal.

“Yeah, about that. What’s up with Eiji? Usually he’s all bouncy and loud when he sees us.” Hajime-nii muses, carding his fingers gently through Eiji’s unruly dark locks.

Hajime-nii and Eiji are very similar in looks and personality, except for their eyes and hair. Hajime-nii’s eyes are sharp and a dark chocolate brown, almost black, whereas Eiji’s are wider and lighter, like auntie Megumi’s. They’ve got both dark brown hair, however Hajime-nii’s is straight and thick (hence the spikes; but it’s still very soft) and Eiji’s got a tuft of unruly locks. But their scowl is the same, they’re both stubborn as a mule and mask their concern with harsh words but gentle touches. The only thing that may be different in their personalities is that Eiji is a bit more outgoing than Hajime-nii, but Takeru can’t be sure about it since he doesn’t know how Hajime-nii was as a kid.

“He probably didn’t sleep at all last night, too excited about our trip.” Takeru explains and both older boys hum in understanding.

They manage to shake Eiji awake and go on their way to the apartment, while discussing about the week’s plans. Being too hungry to think about making plans, they decide to eat lunch at the ramen place near their home and plan out the rest of their stay from there, when their stomachs have stopped grumbling in protest.

“I want to go on top of Tokyo Tower!” Eiji declares as soon as his bowl of ramen is empty, his energy replenished by the quick lunch and the excitement of being in Tokyo without his parents.

“Yeah, me too. I wanna go at night so we can see Tokyo’s skyline when it’s dark. It must be a really impressive view with all the lights and neon signs.” He backs up Eiji, looking pleadingly at the older boys. Eiji and he may not be little kids anymore, but the kicked puppy look still works. Apparently, they’re still cute enough to ace it.

Tooru-nii grumbles at their look. “But it’s so touristy and expensive,” he tries to reason with them, although Takeru knows they’ve already won the battle.

“Come on, Shittykawa. It’s not every day that the two little devils are in town, so let’s indulge them a bit, yeah?” Hajime-nii says with a mischievous grin and winks at them. “Plus, we’ve only been there once during the day. Seeing Tokyo’s skyline by night could be pretty interesting.”

“Hajime-nii, you’re the best.” Eiji and he yell in delight, then they turn their heads toward Tooru-nii to stick their tongues out at him.

Tooru-nii squawks at the display and starts complaining. “Not only are you two little devils against me, but my beloved boyfriend betrayed me too. Rude! If your behaviour doesn’t change for the better during the day, you can start searching for hotels to sleep in tonight, because I’m not letting you in my apartment.” Then he crosses his arms in front of his chest and looks away with a pout on his face for good measure.

Takeru rolls his eyes at his uncle’s dramatics. By now, he’s used to Tooru-nii’s antics but he still wonders how a grown-up can be so childish. And more importantly, how can Hajime-nii put up with him every single day?

He’s ripped from his thoughts by a metallic jingle and sees Hajime-nii dangle his keys in front of Tooru-nii’s face.

“You forget that I’ve also got the keys to _our_ apartment.” Hajime-nii says smugly.

“I’ll confiscate them, of course.” Tooru-nii replies without much conviction, still pouting and not looking at them.

“No you won’t, you love us too much for that.” Hajime-nii grins cheekily, knowing he’s right.

Tooru-nii sighs in defeat and looks fondly at them. “Yeah, you’re right, I love you three way too much to ever be mad at you,” he says softly and Takeru is reminded that behind all his dramatics and childishness, Tooru-nii _is_ a pretty nice person, that his obnoxiousness is just for show and not who he really is. Sure, he can be annoying, but he’s really only this goofy, strong, determined, selfless person, who tries too hard and cares way too much about the ones he loves and would sacrifice everything he has for them in a heartbeat.

He’s also reminded that Hajime-nii has put up with his uncle’s antics for almost all of their lives and is probably immune to them and even knows how to play along. Plus, Hajime-nii is one of the sincerest and bluntest person he knows and he would never be together with a person he can’t stand. So Tooru-nii really isn’t as bad as he seems.

“How about we go to that one park with the beautiful flower arrangements and after that go eat ice cream? And when we get back home we can check when Tokyo Tower is open at night.” Tooru-nii suggests and Takeru feels affection for his uncle bloom in his chest at the mention of getting ice cream and checking Tokyo Tower’s opening hours. Tooru-nii really is a kind person and Takeru loves him very much, despite always seeming so annoyed by him.

_Maybe I’m the childish one_ , he thinks, _to pretend like Tooru-nii’s shenanigans are annoying only to appear more adult, even though I find them kind of funny. I really should appreciate him more._

“Tooru-nii, you’re also the best” He grins widely at his uncle and is rewarded with one of Tooru-nii’s rare, elated smiles.

_Yep, I really should appreciate him more._

The rest of the day goes by like they’ve planned. They go to that one park and admire the beautifully arranged flowers, buy ice cream and a bottle of sunscreen for Tooru-nii’s already burned nose and cheeks, and as soon as they get home, Hajime-nii boots up his laptop to check Tokyo Tower’s opening hours.

“We’re lucky, Tokyo Tower is exceptionally open every night for the holidays. So we can go whichever evening we want.” Hajime-nii announces, while Eiji, Tooru-nii and he are placing out their futons in the living room.

“Awesome. Let’s go on the last day we’re here, to end our trip on a good note.” Eiji exclaims, seeming proud of his idea.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. We have to wake up really early the next day to catch your train.” Hajime-nii says, which promptly causes everyone to pout.

“But Hajime-nii, we can sleep on the train.” He tries to reason, but the look Hajime-nii gives him says that he won’t give in this time.

“You may sleep on the train, but you still have to wake up to get there first and we all know how grumpy and unproductive you both are when you don’t get enough sleep.” Hajime-nii says and the discussion is over.

Takeru starts pouting, although he knows Hajime-nii is rght. Eiji and he are insufferable little shits when they don’t get enough sleep and he really doesn’t want to get in trouble with the two older boys the morning they have to go back to Sendai. That would spoil their otherwise great stay.

“Hey now boys, don’t get all dejected.” Tooru-nii startles him out of his sulking. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Eiji look expectantly at Tooru-nii. “I have a better idea. Hajime, check when there are fireworks near Tokyo Tower this week. That way we can see the fireworks from on top of the tower. What do you think, it’s a pretty good idea, huh?” Tooru-nii smirks triumphantly, like he just proposed the idea of the year, and Takeru has to admit it is a pretty good suggestion.

“That’s actually a pretty smart idea.” Hajime-nii says dumbfounded, like he didn’t deem Tooru able to come up with such a good idea.

There’s a loud slapping noise followed by Tooru-nii’s indignant exclamation. “Rude! Don’t act so shocked about it. I come up with good ideas more often than not.”

Hajime-nii chuckles lightly while rubbing his shoulder where Tooru-nii slapped him. “Whatever makes you sleep at night, babe.”

There’s another angry squawk from Tooru-nii and some thrown punches, and Takeru has to laugh at how ridiculous his older brothers are. No matter how many times he witnessed their squabbles, they’re still very entertaining.

The rest of their stay passes without any hitches and the four of them establish some kind of routine. On the mornings, Tooru-nii has two hours of practice, so it’s Hajime-nii who makes breakfast for them. Then they get dressed up, all three happy that Tooru isn’t there to monopolize the only bathroom of the apartment, and go pick up Tooru from practice. From there they wander through Tokyo, Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii showing them the secret spots of the city that are not invaded by tourists.

By four o’clock, Tooru-nii has to go back to practice and Hajime-nii, Eiji and he head back home, where Hajime-nii does some studying and Eiji and he watch some TV. When evening rolls around, Hajime-nii starts on dinner and he often asks them to help him out, even if it’s only to wash and chop the vegetables. During that time, Eiji and he tell Hajime-nii about their school days, about their classmates and teachers, about their volleyball practices with the Little Tykes and all the shenanigans they do.

Tooru-nii comes home around half-past seven. If the food is already done by the time he’s home they start eating and if dinner is not done yet he helps with the finishing touches. All the while they continue telling each other stories, things that they have missed out in each other’s lives and the atmosphere is all cozy and warm and Takeru doesn’t want this feeling to stop.

When they’re done eating, Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii do the dishes while Eiji and he get their things together for the public bathhouse. Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii decided at the beginning of their stay to go wash at the public bathhouse so they had more quality time together and it was more fun to bath together like real men than to take turns to shower in their little bathroom. One afternoon when Tooru-nii was at practice, Hajime-nii admitted that another reason to go to the public bathhouse together was so that Tooru-nii could soak his tired muscles in a real bath. Despite his sometimes gruff attitude, Hajime-nii really is a softy.

Takeru is currently packing his backpack with all the necessities he needs for their trip to the bathhouse. It’s their last night here in Tokyo, Eiji’s and his bags are already packed and he’s feeling a bit glum. Their time in Tokyo passed way to fast and he doesn’t really want to leave. Eiji’s shuffling makes him look up from his current task. Eiji is approaching him, his backpack already slung over his shoulders and look grim.

“Take, I don’t wanna go home.” Eiji whines quietly, slumping his head on his shoulder when they’re side by side.

He pats him reassuringly on the back and says. “Yeah, me neither.”

After some time, Eiji straightens his head and looks at him, pouting. “Staying with Hajime-nii and Tooru-nii is way cooler than staying with our parents. Even if we still had to do chores and help them out, it’s way less stressful with them than with my parents. I don’t know if what I just said makes sense to you.”

Takeru nods, understanding what EIji means. “Yeah, I get what you mean.” He takes a glance in the kitchen where Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii are throwing soap at each other. “Maybe we feel like this because they both still act like children.”

EIji looks at him questioningly and Takeru grabs his head and turns it towards the kitchen. Eiji starts laughing after seeing his older brothers’ antics. “Yeah, they’re pretty immature. I wonder how they manage to get things done.”

Takeru also starts laughing at that. Although they may be making fun of their childishness, they both know that Tooru-nii and Hajime-nii are responsible young adults, or their parents wouldn’t have sent them here alone. Plus, they wouldn’t have come this far, Hajime-nii being in the top ten of his class and Tooru-nii being on the national team, if they were irresponsible.

When they sober up from their laughing fit, the mood around them is once again gloomy.

“I miss them.” EIji whispers. “It’s been more than two years since they moved here to Tokyo, but I still miss them so much.”

Takeru gulps down the ever growing lump in his throat. He knows how EIji feels because he feels exactly the same. There’s never been a day since the two older boys left them for Tokyo that he hasn’t missed them. Every time they meet again he’s overcome by a bittersweet feeling, happy to be reunited again but knowing that it won’t last. Since he was born, there hasn’t been a week where he didn’t see them both and now he’s still not used to be apart from them for longer periods of time.

“You know that it won’t get better, right? We should be grateful to see them as often as we do.” He says, but it’s more for his own sake than for Eiji’s. He has to remind himself that life moves on and so should they. They’re still kids and have yet a lot to experience.

“I know.” Eiji replies quietly, seeming also deep in thought.

“Eiji, Takeru, you ready to go?” Hajime-nii shouts from the kitchen, effectively startling them out of their brooding mood. He steps out from the kitchen and heads toward them to ruffle their heads in a playful manner.

“Hajime-nii, stop.” Eiji shouts out, trying to swat his older brother’s hands away and Takeru bursts out laughing at Eiji’s scrunched up face. That’s right, he’s not going to let his dark thoughts spoil their last night together. It’s not like they’re never going to see each other again. If he wants to see his older brothers, all it takes is a skype call.

♠

Hajime’s lying naked and spent on their bed, head resting on Tooru’s chest and long fingers carding through his short spiky hair. They had just some rounds of steamy loud sex, Eiji and Takeru being not there anymore, allowing them to go as wild as they wanted to without traumatizing them.

Eiji and Takeru left this morning for Sendai and they spent the rest of the day cleaning and tidying up their place and doing laundry. As soon as the last chore was done, Tooru hauled him in their bedroom and now they are lying in a tangle of limbs, enjoying the quiet they didn’t have for six days. (However, Hajime thinks it’s too quiet, now used to having two rambunctious presences in their apartment.)

He’s thinking about their past week and how much fun it was to have the two little devils with them. He’s glad that everything turned out fine and surprisingly effortless. Taking care of Eiji and Takeru without any grown-ups to help them out turned out to be easier than expected and he couldn’t wait to do it more often.

He’s starting to doze off, lulled by Tooru’s steady heartbeat and his magical hands carding through his hair and massaging his scalp lightly, the warm feeling of contentment washing over him like a blanket. However, his blissful state is shattered in a matter of seconds when Tooru drops a bomb on him.

“I wanna have kids.” Tooru whispers in the quiet of their room.

His heart stops for a few beats and all his muscles tense up. His mind goes a mile a minute, trying to make sense of what Tooru just dropped on him. _Did I just hear that right?_ He takes a few steadying breaths, trying to compose himself again and trying to find a suitable reply to Tooru’s declaration.

Tooru seems unperturbed by his mild distress, still carding through his spikes like he didn’t just shattered their easy atmosphere.

After a minute of heavy silence, Hajime being unable to come up with something to say, Tooru repeats himself with more confidence. “I wanna have kids.”

Hajime’s still at a loss on what to respond. Sure, he thought about having kids in his early teenage years, but since he got in a serious relationship with Tooru he discarded that idea completely because it is impossible for them to have kids. And Tooru knows it too.  He’s also sure Tooru won’t just leave him because they can’t have kids together, so he’s at least not worried about that. At this point in their relationship they know that they’re stuck with each other forever. So why does he bring up this conversation, knowing fully well that it will never happen? At least not in the foreseeable future. Why did he have to remind him of this sad truth?

“You know that’s impossible, right?” He whispers, finally finding his voice back.

“I know,” Tooru replies quietly, voice strained, pained.

Hajime has to close his eyes shut. He hates hearing Tooru so distressed, so powerless. He wants to make him feel better, to grant Tooru’s every wish, to chase all his worries away, but he knows that this time he can’t do anything about it and he hates himself for it. The increasing want he buried deep inside of him all this years ago doesn’t help either in keeping his composure.

With his words, Tooru unlocked his deep desires that were so nicely sealed in a corner of his mind, now spreading at an alarming rate through his entire being. Of course he wanted kids, still wants them, but only with Tooru. He loves kids and they love him, and he knows that Tooru and he would do an amazing job at raising them. However, as things stand right now, they’re not allowed to and maybe never will. That’s why he never let himself hope, never let himself want, in order to not get hurt.

But here comes Tooru and crushes all his defences with a few words.

“I know that it’s impossible right now.” Tooru says, voice steadier, bringing him out of his thoughts. “But taking care of Takeru and Eiji this week made me realise once again how awesome we would be at raising children. And I really, really want to raise children with you Hajime, you have no idea how much I want it. If I have one regret in my life, it’s to not being able to have kids with you.”

“Tooru-“, he says in a strangled voice, trying his hardest to not let the tears fall down. He has to stop Tooru, or he’ll break.

“I’m not done.” Tooru cuts him off, taking a deep inhale before he continues. “Don’t take me wrong, I will never, ever regret loving you and spending my life with you because you’re the one for me, always have been and always will be. And that’s why I’m asking you this. If one day the situation in this damned country changes and same sex couples are allowed to adopt and if we’re not too old, will you please have children with me?”

By the end of his speech, Tooru’s voice is wobbly and wet, not able to contain his repressed emotions any longer, but Hajime could still hear the conviction in every word he said. Of course, he’ll agree to his request. How could he not when he longs for the same thing?

He puts his weight on one elbow, pushing himself off of Tooru’s chest so he can look at his face. He’s met with wide chocolate eyes filled with unshed tears, ready to spill over at any moment. He lifts his other hand up and rubs gently under Tooru’s eyes, stopping the tears from falling.

“I’d love to, Tooru.” he says sincerely and presses a soft kiss on Tooru’s lips to seal the deal, to make him know that it’s a promise.

When Hajime looks up from their kiss, Tooru’s eyes are still a bit sad but there’s a small genuine smile tugging at his lips and he knows that things will be alright. Tooru brings his head back down on his chest and starts carding his fingers through his hair again.

Hajime is once again lulled into a light doze when suddenly memories of past conversations pop in his mind and he chuckles at the thought. Under him, Tooru stirs a bit and hums questioningly at him, surely wondering what got into his boyfriend, seeing that the mood not even seconds ago was a heavy one.

He sobers up a bit and says. “I just noticed that you didn’t start our talk with your usual ‘we need to talk’. Of all the times you could have used those words, now was it and you screwed it up.”

Tooru whacks him over the head and mumbles in disbelief. “Unbelievable. You just went and ruined our moment.”

At that, Hajime laughs heartily, letting all the pent up stress out that their previous talk put on him, grateful to just lie in bed with his ever dramatic boyfriend and enjoy the simple things in life together with him. Even if it’ll only be the two of them for the rest of their lives, he couldn’t be more content.

♠

“Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one… happy New Year!”

He’s surrounded by loud, excited joyful shouts, warm bodies, party poppers exploding and cheerful smiles. Everyone hugs everyone, Tooru being unable to make out who’s embracing him by how much he’s laughing in glee. All around him are the people who are dearest to him, his family, and everyone seems so happy that the only thing he can do is to join them in their cheerfulness.

Plus, he doesn’t have a single reason to not be happy. He’s with his family, all of them are healthy, he has a loving boyfriend, he’ll graduate from college soon and has already been scouted by a powerful pro league team based in Osaka. Life couldn’t be better for him.

He watches his family embrace each other with a big toothy grin on his face, burning the image in his brain for when he has to leave them again. He’s startled when he’s hugged for the nth time this night, but he immediately knows who it is, despite the person embracing him from behind. He would recognise these arms and scent everywhere.

“Happy new year, love.” A deep, smooth voice whispers in his ear, making a trail of goosebumps appear all over his arms.

He turns his head so he can be face to face with the person and smiles warmly at him. “Happy new year, Hajime.”

Hajime smiles fondly back at him and leans forward, nuzzles his nose with his own, before finally giving him his new year’s kiss. It’s sweet and so full of love, always so full of love. It’s perfect.

However, before he can drown in their kiss, they’re interrupted by loud complaining.

“Stop smooching and come lighting the fireworks with us, like you promised.”

“Yeah, you can kiss all you want after you helped us.”

They slowly separate from each other without breaking their hold on each other. Tooru slowly turns his head towards the two boys, looking at them with the most threatening face he can muster. From the corner of his eye he can see Hajime do the same thing. They’re not really mad at the two (not so little anymore) boys, but they should know better than to interrupt their new year’s kiss.

“I hope you realise what you just did and the grave consequences you have to endure because of it.”  Hajime growls in his best bad guy rendition. Watching all these action flicks and thrillers payed off in the end.

The two troublemakers in front of them look at them like they just lost their minds.

“You interrupted our new year’s kiss. Do you know what that means?” Hajime continues, his face getting more threatening by the second.

Tooru is delighted to see the almost-teenagers’ eyes open wide in fear (at least he thinks it’s in fear). Very slowly they shake their heads.

“Being interrupted during a new year’s kiss brings bad luck to the couple.” Tooru starts explaining in his voice he usually only uses when talking with opposing team members to intimidate them. And it apparently also works on the boys because he can see them pale. “So if something should be happening to me or to Hajime, I will hold you responsible for it.” He grins menacingly at them for good measure.

Takeru and Eiji look at each other, eyes still open wide in terror, but suddenly they start howling in laughter, efficiently wiping his smirk off of his face. Why did they start laughing all of a sudden? This wasn’t supposed to be funny, Hajime and he were supposed to scare them to teach them a lesson!

“Yeah right,” Takeru manages to wheeze out between bursts of laughter. Beside him, Eiji is bent in half, sounding like a dying seal, holding his stomach with his hands and tears running down his face.

Tooru turns his head to look at Hajime. He’s glad to see Hajime’s wearing the same shocked expression as him. They engage in a telepathic conversation, wondering why the boys started laughing. They were pretty threating, so why didn’t they cower in fear before them? Did they miss something?

The two boys before them start sobering up and Tooru turns his attention back at them, looking at them in confusion. They snicker at his and Hajime’s confused expressions, and Tooru is lost. For the first time in his life, he’s at a loss. He doesn’t know what to say or how to behave in front of the two younger boys reaction. Did they grow up this much in his absence that he lost his touch with them and can’t read them anymore?

“Tooru-nii, Hajime-nii, we’re getting a bit old to fall for this. We know you’re not mad at us and this whole bad luck thing is bullshit.” Eiji rips him out of his thoughts.

“Yep, we’re not those gullible little kids you used to know anymore. In April we’re gonna enter middle school. We’re teenagers now.” Takeru says, nodding his head to appear more convincing.

“However, your bad guys’ portrayal was pretty convincing. Ever thought of a career change?” Eiji smirks, and Tooru swears that this little brat is mocking them.

Takeru also smirks at them, like he’s telling them to suck it up, then both turn around and go to the back door to finally go outside and light up those fireworks.

Tooru watches them go, feet rooted on the hardwood floor of the living room, too shocked to move or to do anything, really.

“Did they just beat us at our own game?” Hajime asks in bewilderment.

Tooru gapes at the teenagers’ retreating backs a few more seconds before finding his voice. “I think so!?”

Then he hears Hajime huff out a laugh that soon evolves into hearty guffaws. Because of the ridiculousness of this whole situation, Tooru joins his boyfriend in his hysterics, not caring about the worried looks, their family are shooting them.

When they finally calm down, Hajime smiles fondly in the boys’ direction and says. “They really grew up fast, without us realising it.”

“Yep, it feels like it was only yesterday when they took their first steps or ran after bugs to eat them afterwards.” He laughs lightly at the memory.

He can feel Hajime tighten his hold on his waist, telling him silently that he understands, that he feels the same.

“Are you coming or what, old men?” A loud voice shouts out from the back door, effectively getting them into motion, but not before squawking loudly in indignation and growling that the boys were so dead.

Lighting up the fireworks is a family affair, everyone getting a go at lighting up at least one rocket. Luckily there are no major incidents, except for the scare they all get when one of the rockets gets stuck in the ground and all of them run away from it in panic. However, this little mishap is easily repressed and the launching of fireworks merrily continues till all the rockets are fired.

After the fireworks everyone goes back inside, Takeru and Eiji tiredly flop on the couch and the grown-ups sit back at the table in the living room, enjoying some more cups of warm sake while resuming the conversation they had before the countdown. Around two o’clock everyone starts making a move to get back home or in their bedroom, fatigue settling over all of them.

Ten minutes later, Tooru finds himself in Hajime’s bed, teeth brushed and pyjama already on, waiting for Hajime to join him in bed.

When Hajime finally enters his bedroom, Tooru puts his phone on the bedside table and scooches over on his side of the bed. Only Hajime doesn’t join him immediately, but rummages in his drawers for some time. When he seems to have found what he was looking for, he finally heads towards his bed and sits beside him.

“What were you looking for?” he asks, curious about what his boyfriend was searching for.

Hajime sighs loudly, like he’s stealing himself for something, but only says. “Give me your hand.” Without waiting for him to give him his hand, Hajime takes his left hand with shaking fingers ( _why are they shaking?_ ) and slides something on his ring finger.

With wide eyes, he looks down at his left hand, at the simple silver ring embracing his fourth finger. It fits perfectly. For a few seconds, he stares dumbly at his hand, mouth opening and closing, not knowing what to say or what to think.

“Hajime, wha-,” he tries to ask what this is about when he finally finds his voice back, but he’s cut off by Hajime.

“Let me talk first, please?” his boyfriend (fiancé?) asks pleadingly and he can only nod at his request. Hajime seems so nervous now and he wants to make this as easy as possible for him. And to be honest, he’s so on edge himself, he doesn’t know if he can bring himself to form coherent sentences anyway.

Hajime takes one last deep breath and takes the plunge. “I know how this looks like, but it really doesn’t have to be an engagement ring. If you’re not ready or don’t want to, consider it a promise ring or something.” He stops to take some more steadying breaths, then he takes his left hand in his and looks straight in his eyes, intense dark brown eyes boring into his very soul, making warmth spread all across his body. “The important thing about this ring is that it should be a reminder for both of us that we’re not alone, never, no matter how far apart we are. With you going to Osaka in April and me staying in Tokyo, I wanted something to remind ourselves that the other is always with us in heart and mind, and if the loneliness should get too much, we’re only a phone call away from each other.” Hajime finishes, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, probably embarrassed by his cheesy declaration, but Tooru wouldn’t want it any other way.

He can feel tears gathering up in his eyes, but he won’t let them fall. Not yet. He has to clarify something with his future fiancé first.

“Ask me properly, Hajime.” He says breathlessly, anticipation buzzing in his whole body. They can’t get married yet, but there’s no law forbidding them to get engaged. And since the opportunity showed up, he’s going to grab it and not letting it escape from him.

He can see Hajime relax slightly and a small smile stretches across his face. His beautiful dark brown eyes aren’t clouded with anxiety anymore and Tooru can see the fondness and adoration in them. His soon-to-be-fiancé holds his left hand in both hands now and slides off the bed to settle on one knee beside it.

“Oikawa Tooru, the bane of my existence,” Tooru huffs in mock anger at that and Hajime chuckles lightly. “And more importantly, love of my life. Will you marry me?” He asks, dopey grin stretching across his face and Tooru can’t believe his luck that such a beautiful, wonderful human being wants to spend the rest of his life with him.

He can’t hold back his tears anymore and with a wet but elated smile he answers. “Yes, a thousand times yes!”

The following kiss is the sweetest one they had yet, so full of love and adoration, Hajime cupping his wet cheeks with so much care, like he is the most precious thing in the whole universe and his heart only grows and grows. His whole being is so full of love, he doesn’t know what to do with it except give it back to the man kissing him breathless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for all your kudos and comments. i really appreciated all of them :)


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